Loading…
India's record foodgrain harvest and large buffer stocks secure calories, but rising heat, erratic monsoons and groundwater depletion expose the system that produces, stores and distributes them.
Climate-proofing means redesigning procurement, storage and distribution policy around resilience and nutrition rather than volume alone.
The core vulnerabilities run across the value chain: terminal heat stress on wheat, monsoon volatility, non-climate-controlled warehousing, cold-chain deficits and cereal-heavy diets that leave micronutrient gaps.
The proposed pillars are diversified procurement beyond rice and wheat, a wider PDS basket, flood- and heat-resilient storage, IMD forecasting linked to buffer-stock and procurement decisions, and scaled-up micro-irrigation and crop insurance.
The National Food Security Act, 2013 guarantees subsidised foodgrain to about 80 crore people, and One Nation One Ration Card has made those entitlements portable across states.
India's food policy was built to solve scarcity: guarantee a price for rice and wheat, procure them, store them, and distribute them cheaply. It worked, and the record harvest proves it. But the same design concentrates risk. Procurement focused on two water-intensive cereals pushes cropping patterns towards them, which deepens groundwater stress; storage built for volume rather than for temperature control is exposed to heat and extreme rainfall; and a cereal-dominated ration leaves micronutrient deficiency intact even where calories are sufficient. Climate-proofing means changing the policy instruments themselves - what is procured, how it is stored, and what the entitlement contains - rather than adding a climate programme alongside them.
Simple Analogy: A warehouse can be full and still be the weak point, if the roof leaks and everything inside is the same crop.
| Stage | Climate vulnerability | Proposed response |
|---|---|---|
| Production | Terminal heat stress cuts wheat grain filling; unseasonal rain damages standing rabi crops | Heat-tolerant and drought-resilient varieties; weather-indexed insurance under PM Fasal Bima Yojana |
| Water | Erratic monsoon with dry spells and flash floods; aquifer depletion under irrigated cereals | Micro-irrigation (drip and sprinkler); shift to less water-intensive nutri-cereals |
| Procurement | MSP operations concentrated on rice and wheat entrench water-intensive cropping | Decentralised procurement extended to millets, pulses and oilseeds suited to local agro-climatic zones |
| Storage | Open-plinth and non-climate-controlled warehouses risk spoilage and fungal infestation | Temperature-controlled, flood-resilient silos for buffer stocks |
| Logistics | Cold-chain deficits cause heavy post-harvest loss in fruits, vegetables and dairy in summer | Expanded refrigerated transport corridors |
| Consumption | Cereal-heavy public food basket leaves micronutrient deficiency despite caloric sufficiency | Nutri-cereals and pulses in fair price shops, PM POSHAN and Anganwadi programmes |
GS Paper III > Issues of buffer stocks and food security, public distribution system, cropping patterns, agricultural marketing; GS Paper II > Government policies for vulnerable sections
General Awareness > Agriculture and economy
General Awareness > Economy and Government Schemes
In the context of food and nutritional security of India, enhancing the 'Seed Replacement Rates' of various crops helps in achieving the food production targets of the future. But what is/are the constraint/constraints in its wider/greater implementation? 1. There is no National Seeds Policy in place. 2. There is no participation of private sector seed companies in the supply of quality seeds of vegetables and planting materials of horticultural crops. 3. There is a demand-supply gap regarding quality seeds in case of low value and high volume crops. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: 3 only
With reference to 'Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion', which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. This initiative aims to demonstrate the improved production and post-harvest technologies, and to demonstrate value addition techniques, in an integrated manner, with cluster approach. 2. Poor, small, marginal and tribal farmers have larger stake in this scheme. 3. An important objective of the scheme is to encourage farmers of commercial crops to shift to millet cultivation by offering them free kits of critical inputs of nutrients and microirrigation equipment. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: 1 and 2 only
High temperature during the grain-filling stage of wheat, which shortens the filling period and cuts yield.
Millets such as bajra, jowar and ragi - hardy, less water-intensive and nutritionally denser than fine cereals.
The platform that makes NFSA foodgrain entitlements portable across states through biometric authentication.
Micronutrient deficiency persisting despite adequate calorie intake.
Insurance that pays out on a measured weather trigger rather than on assessed crop loss, allowing faster settlement.