Class 9 : Social Science (In English) – Lesson 20. Food Security in India

EXPLANATION & SUMMARY

📍 1. Concept of Food Security
🌾 Food security means ensuring availability, accessibility, and affordability of food for all people at all times.
📊 It protects people from hunger during natural disasters, economic crises, or crop failures.
🏭 Without food security, social stability and economic growth are threatened.

📍 2. Dimensions of Food Security
📦 Availability: Adequate food production and stocks.
🚜 Accessibility: Food physically reachable to all regions.
💰 Affordability: People must have enough income to purchase nutritious food.

📍 3. Status of Food Security in India
🌾 India has achieved self-sufficiency in food grains since the Green Revolution.
🍚 Buffer stocks maintained by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) help stabilise supply.
⚠️ Despite progress, regional disparities persist—some states face chronic shortages.
👥 Vulnerable groups: landless labourers, SC/ST communities, and disaster-affected populations.

📍 4. Causes of Food Insecurity
🌱 Dependence on monsoon rainfall for agriculture.
📉 Poverty and unequal income distribution.
🏭 Inadequate storage, transport, and infrastructure leading to wastage.
🌪 Natural disasters (floods, droughts, cyclones) disrupting supply.

📍 5. Public Distribution System (PDS)
📦 Established for equitable distribution of subsidised food grains.
🏪 Network of Fair Price Shops (ration shops) supplies rice, wheat, sugar, and kerosene.
📈 PDS has evolved:
Targeted PDS (TPDS) → focuses on Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
NFSA 2013 → legal right to food for ~67% of India’s population.
⚠️ Issues: leakages, corruption, inclusion/exclusion errors.

📍 6. Buffer Stock and Food Corporation of India (FCI)
📊 Buffer stock: Surplus grains stored during good harvests to be distributed in shortages.
🏭 FCI procures wheat and rice from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and maintains reserves.
📦 Helps stabilise prices, ensures food security during droughts or emergencies.

📍 7. Role of Co-operatives and NGOs
🏢 Co-operatives like Amul and Mother Dairy distribute milk and food effectively.
🛠 NGOs run community kitchens, midday meals, and awareness campaigns—e.g., Akshaya Patra Foundation.

📍 8. Government Schemes Supporting Food Security
🥗 Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS): Free cooked meals in schools to improve nutrition and attendance.
🏭 Annapurna Scheme: 10 kg of free food grains for senior citizens without pensions.
🍚 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): Highly subsidised grains for poorest families.
🌾 Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS): Nutrition for children under six and mothers.

📍 9. Green Revolution’s Impact
🚜 Introduced HYV seeds, irrigation, and fertilisers → increased food production.
📈 Reduced dependence on imports and famine risks.
🌱 However, led to regional imbalances (Punjab, Haryana benefitted most) and environmental concerns.

📍 10. Current Challenges
⚠️ Climate change affecting crop patterns and yields.
📉 Wastage in procurement and storage due to poor infrastructure.
🛠 Need for diversified crops—pulses, oilseeds, and millets for better nutrition.
💡 Digitalisation and better targeting required to reduce leakages in PDS.

📍 11. Way Forward
🌾 Strengthen agriculture with sustainable practices.
📦 Modernise storage, transport, and logistics.
🧑‍🌾 Promote crop diversification and organic farming.
🛠 Use Aadhaar-linked ration cards and e-PDS for transparency.
👩‍🎓 Raise awareness on balanced diets and nutrition.

📝 Summary (~200 words)
Food security in India ensures everyone has access to sufficient, nutritious food. It involves availability, accessibility, and affordability. India became self-sufficient in grains after the Green Revolution and maintains buffer stocks through the Food Corporation of India. The Public Distribution System distributes subsidised grains, while schemes like Mid-Day Meal, Annapurna, Antyodaya Anna Yojana, and ICDS support vulnerable groups. Co-operatives and NGOs supplement government efforts. Despite progress, food insecurity persists among landless labourers, SC/ST communities, and disaster-affected regions due to poverty, infrastructure gaps, and natural disasters. Challenges include climate change, wastage, and regional disparities. Strengthening agriculture, modernising logistics, diversifying crops, and ensuring PDS transparency are essential for long-term food security.

⚡ Quick Recap (~100 words)
🌾 Food security = availability, accessibility, affordability.
📊 Achieved self-sufficiency post–Green Revolution.
📦 FCI buffer stock + PDS supply subsidised grains.
🥗 Key schemes: Mid-Day Meal, Antyodaya Anna Yojana, Annapurna, ICDS.
👥 Vulnerable groups: landless labourers, SC/STs, disaster-hit areas.
⚠️ Challenges: poverty, climate change, wastage, regional imbalance.
💡 Future: strengthen agriculture, diversify crops, digitise PDS, improve storage & transport.

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QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK

Question 1: How is food security ensured in India?
Answer:
🌾 Production: The Green Revolution boosted grain output making India self-sufficient.
📦 Buffer Stock: Food Corporation of India stores surplus grain for shortages.
🏪 Public Distribution System (PDS): Fair Price Shops distribute subsidised food.
🤝 Schemes: Mid-Day Meal, Antyodaya Anna Yojana, NFSA 2013 ensure affordable food.
👥 Co-operatives & NGOs: Amul, Mother Dairy, and Akshaya Patra support access.

Question 2: Which people are more prone to food insecurity?
Answer:
🌾 Landless agricultural labourers and small farmers.
🏭 Casual workers in informal sectors.
👥 SC/ST communities and backward classes.
🏔 People in remote, disaster-prone, or politically disturbed areas.
🍚 Urban poor living in slums with irregular income.

Question 3: Which states are more food insecure in India?
Answer:
📊 Highest risk: Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh.
🏔 Hill states like Assam and remote North-East districts.
🌪 Areas frequently hit by floods/drought—e.g., parts of Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Question 4: Do you believe the Green Revolution made India self-sufficient in grains? How?
Answer:
🚜 Introduced HYV seeds, fertilisers, irrigation—dramatically raised yields.
📈 Wheat and rice output soared—India stopped large-scale imports.
🌾 FCI procures surplus → stabilises prices and supplies.
⚠️ However, gains concentrated in Punjab, Haryana, Western UP.

Question 5: A section of people in India is still without food. Explain.
Answer:
📉 Poverty and unemployment limit purchasing power.
🏔 Remote tribal areas lack infrastructure and markets.
⚠️ Social discrimination excludes some groups.
🌪 Natural calamities disrupt supply despite overall surplus.

Question 6: What happens to food supply during a disaster or calamity?
Answer:
🌪 Production and distribution break down.
📉 Prices rise sharply.
🏭 Transport and storage disrupted → local shortages.
🌾 Poor and landless are hit hardest—risk of starvation.

Question 7: Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger.
Answer:
🌱 Seasonal Hunger:
Linked to crop cycles—common among farm labourers.
Occurs in lean seasons (pre-harvest).
🍚 Chronic Hunger:
Long-term inadequate nutrition.
Caused by persistent poverty or low income.

Question 8: What has the government done to provide food security to the poor? Discuss any two schemes.
Answer:
🏪 Public Distribution System: Provides subsidised grains to BPL families.
🥗 Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Free cooked meals in schools—improves nutrition & attendance.
📦 Antyodaya Anna Yojana: Poorest families get food grains at very low prices.
👶 ICDS: Nutrition for children under six and mothers.

Question 9: Why is buffer stock created by the government?
Answer:
📦 To stabilise prices during shortages.
🌾 To ensure food availability during disasters/droughts.
🤝 To distribute through PDS at affordable rates.
🏭 To support farmers by procuring at Minimum Support Price.

Question 10 (a): Write a note on Minimum Support Price.
Answer:
🌾 MSP is the price at which the government procures crops from farmers.
📈 Ensures farmers earn fair income even if market prices fall.

Question 10 (b): Buffer Stock.
Answer:
📦 Surplus grains stored by FCI to manage emergencies and stabilise supply.

Question 10 (c): Issue Price.
Answer:
💰 The price at which grains are released from FCI to Fair Price Shops for PDS distribution—lower than market price.

Question 10 (d): Fair Price Shops.
Answer:
🏪 Ration shops selling subsidised rice, wheat, sugar, kerosene to ration card holders.

Question 11: What are the problems of the functioning of ration shops?
Answer:
⚠️ Poor quality grains sometimes supplied.
📉 Leakage and diversion of food to open markets.
👥 Exclusion of deserving families due to faulty BPL lists.
🏭 Irregular supply and corruption.

Question 12: Write a note on the role of co-operatives in providing food and related items.
Answer:
🏢 Co-operatives like Amul ensure milk distribution nationwide.
🍚 Mother Dairy supplies vegetables and grains at fair prices.
🥗 In Tamil Nadu, co-operative stores sell rice and wheat below market rate.
🤝 NGOs and co-ops run community kitchens and Mid-Day Meal programs—reducing hunger.

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OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR EXAMS

🌟 SECTION A — Multiple Choice Questions (1 mark each)
Question 1: Which agency maintains India’s buffer stock of food grains?
(a) NABARD
(b) Food Corporation of India
(c) Reserve Bank of India
(d) NITI Aayog
Answer: 🌾 (b) Food Corporation of India

Question 2: Minimum Support Price is announced by:
(a) FCI
(b) RBI
(c) Government of India
(d) WTO
Answer: 📊 (c) Government of India

Question 3: Fair Price Shops are part of which system?
(a) MSP
(b) PDS
(c) WTO
(d) Green Revolution
Answer: 🏪 (b) PDS

Question 4: Seasonal hunger occurs mainly among:
(a) IT professionals
(b) Urban rich
(c) Agricultural labourers
(d) Bank employees
Answer: 🌱 (c) Agricultural labourers

Question 5: Which scheme provides free cooked meals to school children?
(a) NFSA 2013
(b) Antyodaya Anna Yojana
(c) Mid-Day Meal Scheme
(d) Food Security Mission
Answer: 🍚 (c) Mid-Day Meal Scheme

Question 6: Food security means:
(a) Only food production is high
(b) Availability, accessibility, and affordability of food for all
(c) Stocking food for export
(d) Importing food grains
Answer: 📦 (b) Availability, accessibility, and affordability of food for all

Question 7: Green Revolution primarily benefited which crops?
(a) Wheat and rice
(b) Pulses and oilseeds
(c) Sugarcane and jute
(d) Tea and coffee
Answer: 🌾 (a) Wheat and rice

Question 8: Which states are most food-insecure in India?
(a) Punjab and Haryana
(b) Bihar and Jharkhand
(c) Kerala and Goa
(d) Gujarat and Maharashtra
Answer: 📊 (b) Bihar and Jharkhand

Question 9: Which organisation fixes MSP in India?
(a) WTO
(b) RBI
(c) CACP
(d) NAFED
Answer: 🏪 (c) CACP

Question 10: Antyodaya Anna Yojana targets:
(a) Urban middle class
(b) Poorest of the poor
(c) Government employees
(d) Rich farmers
Answer: 📦 (b) Poorest of the poor

🌟 SECTION B — Very Short Answer (2 marks each)
Question 11: Define food security.
Answer:
🌾 Food security means ensuring availability, accessibility, and affordability of food for all people at all times so no one remains hungry or malnourished.

Question 12: Mention any two factors responsible for food insecurity.
Answer:
📉 Poverty and unemployment reduce purchasing power.
🌪 Natural calamities like drought or flood disrupt supply.

Question 13: State two objectives of the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Answer:
🏪 Provide affordable food grains to the poor.
📦 Stabilise prices and prevent black marketing.

Question 14: Name two cooperatives involved in food distribution.
Answer:
🥛 Amul (milk distribution) and Mother Dairy (vegetables and grains).

Question 15: Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger (two points).
Answer:
🌱 Seasonal hunger: Temporary, linked to agricultural lean seasons.
🍚 Chronic hunger: Long-term, persistent undernourishment due to poverty.

Question 16: What is buffer stock and why is it maintained?
Answer:
📦 Surplus grains procured by FCI.
🌾 Maintained to stabilise prices and ensure food during shortages or disasters.

Question 17: Name two government schemes aimed at improving food security.
Answer:
🥗 Mid-Day Meal Scheme.
📊 Antyodaya Anna Yojana.

Question 18: Which two states became grain-surplus after the Green Revolution?
Answer:
🌾 Punjab and Haryana.

Question 19: State two problems of ration shops.
Answer:
⚠️ Poor-quality grains and leakage to black markets.
👥 Exclusion of deserving families due to faulty lists.

🌟 SECTION C — Short Answer (3 marks each)
Question 20: Discuss three problems of the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Answer:
⚠️ Leakages and diversion: Grains often sold in black markets instead of reaching the poor.
📉 Exclusion and inclusion errors: Deserving families miss out; non-poor sometimes benefit.
🏪 Irregular supply & poor quality: Shops sometimes distribute low-quality grains or stay closed.

Question 21: Describe three objectives of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013.
Answer:
🌾 Provide legal entitlement for food to ~67% of Indians.
🍚 Ensure nutritional support for women, children, and vulnerable groups.
📊 Strengthen PDS reforms for transparency and accountability.

Question 22: How do cooperatives contribute to food security? Give three examples.
Answer:
🥛 Amul (Gujarat): Supplies milk nationwide, ensuring fair prices for farmers.
🥗 Mother Dairy (Delhi NCR): Offers vegetables and grains at fair rates.
🛒 Co-op stores (Tamil Nadu, Kerala): Sell rice and pulses below market price to reduce hunger.

Question 23: Explain three ways disasters disrupt food supply.
Answer:
🌪 Destroy crops and livestock → reduced production.
🚚 Block roads and transport → delay grain movement.
📈 Cause panic buying → prices soar, hurting the poor.

Question 24: Why is buffer stock important for food security? Provide three points.
Answer:
📦 Maintains food availability during droughts or floods.
🌾 Stabilises prices by balancing supply and demand.
🏪 Supports PDS, ensuring subsidised grains for vulnerable groups.

Question 25: List three groups most vulnerable to food insecurity in India.
Answer:
👥 Landless agricultural labourers.
🏔 Tribal and remote-area communities.
📉 Urban slum dwellers and casual workers.

🌟 SECTION D — Long Answer (5 marks each)
Question 26: Analyse five major causes of food insecurity in India.
Answer:
📉 Poverty and unemployment reduce purchasing power.
🌪 Natural disasters disrupt supply and raise prices.
🏔 Remote locations face poor infrastructure and market access.
⚠️ Leakages in PDS and corruption prevent aid reaching the needy.
🏭 Rapid population growth strains resources and creates demand-supply gaps.

Question 27: Evaluate the role of the Green Revolution in ensuring food security.
Answer:
🚜 Introduced HYV seeds, fertilisers, and irrigation → grain output surged.
🌾 Reduced imports, making India self-reliant in wheat and rice.
📦 Created surplus for buffer stocks to handle shortages.
📊 Regional imbalance: Punjab and Haryana benefitted most, while eastern states lagged.
⚠️ Environmental concerns: Overuse of fertilisers and groundwater depletion.

Question 28: Suggest five measures to improve the functioning of PDS.
Answer:
📋 Digitise ration cards with Aadhaar to prevent fraud.
🏪 Strengthen quality checks for grains.
📈 Expand coverage to urban slums and remote villages.
👥 Conduct regular social audits for transparency.
🚚 Improve transport and storage to reduce spoilage.

Question 29: Discuss the importance of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers and consumers.
Answer:
🌾 For farmers: Ensures fair income even if market prices crash → prevents distress sales.
📦 For consumers: MSP-backed procurement builds buffer stocks for price stability.
🏭 Encourages production of staple crops vital for national food security.
📊 Supports welfare schemes (PDS, Mid-Day Meal) by guaranteeing supply.
⚠️ Needs balancing to avoid surplus grain and fiscal burden.

Question 30: Explain how government schemes like Mid-Day Meal and Antyodaya Anna Yojana enhance food security.
Answer:
🥗 Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Provides free cooked meals in schools → improves nutrition, boosts attendance, and reduces classroom hunger.
📦 Antyodaya Anna Yojana: Delivers highly subsidised grains to the poorest → directly fights extreme hunger.
👥 Both complement PDS and NFSA, ensuring broader coverage of vulnerable groups.

🌟 SECTION E — Case/Source-Based & Map/Skill (4–5 marks each)
Question 31: Case: A flood-affected district faces food shortages. Suggest four steps the government can take.
Answer:
📦 Release grains from buffer stock.
🚚 Arrange emergency transport to restore supply.
🏪 Activate PDS shops and temporary relief centres.
👥 Partner with NGOs and co-operatives for quick distribution.

Question 32: Case: A family earns ₹950 per capita per month and has poor access to schools and health care. Classify their poverty and recommend measures.
Answer:
📊 Classified as income poor (below poverty line) and human poor (deprived in education/health).
🏪 Provide subsidised food via PDS.
📚 Enrol children under Mid-Day Meal and ICDS.
🏥 Strengthen local health services and create rural jobs (MGNREGA).

Question 33: Compare Kerala and Bihar in terms of food security performance.
Answer:
🌾 Kerala: High literacy, strong health care, remittances → low food insecurity (<10%).
📉 Bihar: Low industrialisation, weak infrastructure → high food insecurity (>30%).
📊 Kerala’s co-operatives and PDS efficiency outshine Bihar’s fragmented systems.

Question 34: Why is food security essential for national stability and economic growth?
Answer:
🌾 Prevents hunger and malnutrition, ensuring a healthy workforce.
📊 Stabilises prices → reduces inflation shocks.
🏭 Supports social harmony, avoiding unrest caused by shortages.
📈 Boosts productivity and economic output.
👥 Builds trust in governance and welfare systems.

Question 35: On an outline map of India, mark four states with surplus grain production.
Answer:
🗺 Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh.

Question 36: Name any four government schemes directly linked to food security.
Answer:
📦 Public Distribution System (PDS).
🥗 Mid-Day Meal Scheme.
🍚 Antyodaya Anna Yojana.
📊 National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013.

Question 37: Explain the role of cooperatives like Amul in achieving food security.
Answer:
🥛 Amul: Revolutionised dairying, ensuring fair prices for farmers and affordable milk for consumers.
🏭 Reduces dependency on imports and stabilises supply.
🤝 Shows how collective action enhances availability and accessibility of essential food items.

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ONE PAGE REVISION SHEET

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MISCONCEPTIONS “ALERTS”

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MIND MAPS

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