Production and Consumption of Foodgrains in India: Implications of AcceleratedEconomic Growth and Poverty Alleviation

摘要

The remarkable growth of India's foodgrain production since the 'greenrevolution' of the mid-1960s is examined in the report, and, using several alternative scenarios, projections are made for growth to the year 2000. The apparent recent decline in productivity of the modern inputs--fertilizer, seeds, and irrigation--that made possible the growth of the last 25 years, along with the narrow geographic and crop bases of past growth, has raised concerns about the limits of future growth. These problems are discussed on national and regional levels, and suggestions are made for government policies to attempt to meet the rising demand for both foodgrains and feedgrains. If such efforts fall short, imports may have to be provided for in the country's overall development strategy. Growth rates of consumption among high and low income groups of the population, both rural and urban, are discussed, as is the persistence of hunger in spite of large government stocks of foodgrains.