Trends and changes in foodgrain production; Input use and production behavior; Trends and changes in per capita consumption of foodgrains; Scenarios for the year 2000.

Abstract: In spite of the fact that per capita income is rising in India (up to 1977) the consumption of foodgrain has dropped. Two sets of data were analyzed to explain the discrepancy: National Sample Survey expenditure and consumption data and the Indian Ministry of Agriculture's estimates of availability and production. Data cover production area, fertilizer use, irrigation, availability, consumption, changing economic patterns, geographic differences, production potential, and consumer prices. Possible explanations are data deficiencies, inbalance of consumption by geographic or economic groups, or an increasein savings to income level.

Increasing income and urbanization are triggering a rapid change in food consumption patterns in India. This report assesses India’s changing food consumption patterns and their implications on future food and water demand. According to the projections made in this study, the total calorie supply would continue to increase, but the dominance of food grains in the consumption basket is likely to decrease by 2050, and the consumption of non-grain crops and animal products would increase to provide a major part of the daily calorie supply. Although the total food grain demand will decrease, the total grain demand is likely to increase with the increasing feed demand for the livestock. The implications of the changing consumption patterns are assessed through consumptive water use (CWU) under the assumptions of full or partial food self-sufficiency.

Overview; Food grain production: goals and achievements; Input factors affecting production; economic factors; Institutional factors; Food supplies and food consumption; India's food demand at a population of one billion; Meeting the food demand from domestic production; Policy implications.

Population explosions have always pushed India into many deep-rooted socio-economic bottlenecks. India is home to one third of the globe’s poverty-ridden and hunger-prone population, despite the undoubted availability of and access to food grains. This study explores the causes of and solutions to the prevalence of hunger and malnutrition at the grassroots level. Although India’s spending on protecting its boundaries has increased massively, there does not seem to have been as much emphasis on protecting its citizens. There can be no doubt that food security involves the simultaneous growth in demand and supply of food grains. As such, the book analyses the supply-side background behind the accomplishment of food security. It explores the nature, prospects and challenges ahead for Indian agriculture. Food grain production can be enhanced on a par with increasing demand only when hurdles confronting agriculture are addressed.