UPSC Mains
GS Paper III
Agriculture & Food Security
Climate-Proofing India’s Food System
WFP India warns that India’s next food challenge isn’t producing more — it’s keeping supply affordable, nutritious and climate-resilient for 1.4 billion people.
FOODGRAIN OUTPUT
350+ Million Tonnes (2024-25)
NFSA COVERAGE
~800 Million People
NATIONAL GOAL SHIFT
Food Security → Sustainable Food Security
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Why in News & India’s Food Security Journey
- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) India has flagged that climate-proofing India’s food system cannot wait — the challenge is no longer producing enough food, but ensuring affordable, nutritious, climate-resilient supply amid rising heat, erratic rainfall and water scarcity.
- India’s foodgrain production crossed 350 million tonnes in 2024-25, yet procurement remains concentrated in a few crops and water-stressed regions, raising long-term food security concerns.
Glimpse of India’s Food Security Journey
- 1960s: Dependence on food aid and imports — the “ship-to-mouth” existence.
- Green Revolution: Investment in high-yielding seeds, irrigation, procurement, storage, MSP and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
- Present: A major food producer with buffer stocks and a legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains for ~800 million people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.
India’s Existing Advantages
- Record Production: Foodgrain output exceeded 350 MT in 2024-25, including record rice and wheat harvests.
- Robust Distribution: PDS, strengthened by digitisation and One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), has expanded portability for migrant workers.
- Administrative Depth: Decades of institutional expertise in procurement, buffer stock management and price support.
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The Core Challenge
- Heat stress reduces wheat yields via terminal heat during the grain-filling stage.
- Erratic monsoons cause floods and droughts within the same season.
- Groundwater depletion weakens irrigation buffers.
- Extreme weather damages storage and transport infrastructure.
Procurement Concentration
Concentrated mainly in rice and wheat, and in a few geographies — Punjab, Haryana, western UP — several facing serious groundwater stress.
Risk Concentration
A climate shock in one region can destabilise the national food system, since the rice-wheat system carries built-in vulnerabilities.
Cascading climate effects — from production to storage, transport and consumption — create market volatility and limit household access to nutritious food.
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The Way Forward: Building a “Climate Buffer”
Diversify Procurement & PDS
Expand procurement across crops/regions; align MSP to local water-climate conditions; promote millets, pulses and oilseeds.
Integrate Climate Information
Link IMD forecasts to procurement and buffer-stock decisions; expand NFSA monitoring to cover heat, water stress and supply-chain resilience.
Farm-Level Risk Tools
Climate-resilient seeds, micro-irrigation, watershed development, precision farming and weather-indexed insurance.
Resilient Supply Chains
Flood-resilient warehouses, heat-suited storage, expanded cold chains and robust transport links.
Climate Finance
Mobilise green bonds and adaptation finance; integrate food systems into India’s net-zero pathway.
Relevant Government Schemes
- National Food Security Mission (NFSM) & Sub-Mission on Nutri-Cereals; International Year of Millets (2023) — “Shree Anna” push.
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY); Per Drop More Crop (PMKSY); Soil Health Cards; PM-KUSUM.
From “Food Security” to “Sustainable Food Security”: Climate resilience is not a new approach but the next step in India’s existing strategy — embedding climate risk management as a first-order design parameter in NFSA planning, not an afterthought.
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Source: The Hindu
