NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India
Textbook Exercises
Question 1.
Some peoplesay that Bengal famine happened because there, was a shortage of rice. Study the table and find out whether you agree with the statement?
Answer:
Bengal famine occurred due to increasing price of rice.
Question 2.
Which year shows a drastic decline in food availability?
Ans. 1940.
Question 3.
Why is agriculture a seasonal activity
Answer:
Agriculture is a seasonal activity because it employs labour only during times of sowing, transplanting and harvesting.
Question 4.
Why is Ramu unemployed for about four months?
Answer:
Ramu works as a casual labourer in agriculture. Agriculture is a seasonal activity therefore he remains unemployed for about 4 months during the period of plant consolidation and maturing.
Question 5.
What does Ramu do when he is .unemployed?
Answer:
When he is unemployed he looks for work in other activities. Sometime he gets employment in brick laying or in construction activities in the village
Question 6.
Who are supplementing income in Ramu’s family.
Answer:
Ramu’s eldest son Somu and his wife Sundari are supplementing his income.
Question 7.
Why does Ramu face difficulty when he is unable to have work?
Answer:
Ramu and his family faces difficulty when he is unable to have work. Sometimes his kids have to sleep without food. He becomes food insecure during months when he remains unemployed.
Question 8.
When is Ramu food insecure?
Answer:
Ramu is food insecure when he is unemployed for 4 months.
Question 9.
Does Ahmad have a regular income from riskshaw-pulling?
Answer:
Ahmad’s income is not regular. His earnings fluctuate everyday.
Question 10.
How does the yellow card help Ahmad ran his family even with small, eamings from rickshaw-pnlling?
Answer:
The yellow card of Ahmad is a PDS card for people below poverty line; With this card, Ahmad gets sufficient quantity of wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene oil for his dailyuse. He gets these essentials at half of the market price. He purchases his monthly stock during a particular day when ration shop is opened for below poverty line. Thus, he is able to eke out his survival with less than sufficient earnings for his big family.
Question 11.
Study the graph 4.1 and answer the following questions:
Graph 4.1 Production of food-grains in India (million tonnes)
Answer:
(a) In the year 2003-2004.
(b) Between 1960 to 1970. (c) No, it is not.
Question 12.
Study die graph 4.2 and answer the following questions:
Graph 4.2 Central roodgrains (wheat + rice) Stock and Minimum Buffer Norm (million tonnes)
(a) In which recent year food-grains stock with the government as maximum?
(b) What is the minimum buffet stock norm for the FCI7
(c) Why were the FGI granaries over-flowing With food grains?
Answer:
(a) In July 2002.
(b) 24.3 million tonnes.
(c) Public distribution system, including the minimum support price and procurement has contributed to an “increase in food-grain production.
It made FCI granaries to overflow.
Question 13.
How is food security ensured in India?
Answer:
Indian government is trying to achieve self sufficiency in food-grains since independence. With the help of green revolution it succeeded in achieving it. Since 1970’s variety of crops are grown all over the country. The availability of food-grains at the country level has been further ensured with, a carefully designed food security system by the government. This system has two components: (a) buffer stock and, (b) public distribution system.
(a) Buffer stock—The stock of food-grains procured by the government through Food Corporation of India is called as buffer stock: The FCI procures these food grains from areas Where they are surplus. It purchases them from farmers at pre-announced price. Government maintains buffer stock to distribute food grains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata .of society at a price lower than the market, price. This also helps resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during the calamity.
(b) Public distribution system—Supply of essential commodities by the govemment to the people is referred to as public distribution system. The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among the poorer section of the society. Ration shops are. also known as fair , price shops. These shops keep stock of food- grains, sugar, kerosene, oil for cooking. These items are sold to people at a.price lower than the market price.
Question 14.
Which are the people more prone to food insecurity?
Answer:
Although a large section of people suffer from food and nutrition insecurity in India, the worst affected groups are landless people with little or no land to depend upon, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self employed workers and destitutes including beggars. In the urban areas the food insecure families are those whose working members are generally employed in ill-paid occupations and causal labours market. These workers are largely engaged in seasonal activities and are paid very low wages that just ensure bare survival.
Question 15.
Which states are most food insecure in India?
Answer:
The food .insecure people are disproportionately large in some regions of the country, such as economically backward states with high incidence of poverty, tribal and remote areas, regions more prone, to natural disasters etc. In fact the state of Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south eastern parts), Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West-Bengal, Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra account for largest number of food insecure people in the country.
Question 16.
Do you believe that green revolution has made India self sufficient in food-grains? How?
Answer:
In late 1960’s India adopted a new strategy in agriculture which resulted in the ‘green revolution’ especially in the production of wheat and rice.
But the increase of food-grains was, however, disproportionate. The highest rate of growth was achieved in Punjab and Haryana, where food-grain production jumped from 7.23 million tonnes in 1964-65 to reach an all time high of 30.33 million tonnes in 1995¬96. Production in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and the north-eastern states continued to stagger. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, recorded significant increases in rice yield.
Question 17.
A section of people in India are still without food? Explain?
Answer:
A section of the people is insecure during a few months when they remain unemployed because of the seasonal nature of agricultural work. They are engaged in seasonal activities and are paid very low wages that just ensure bare survival. At times it so happens that they have to stay without food.
Question 18.
What happens to supply of foods when there is a disaster or calamity?
Answer:
Due to a natural calamity, say draught, total production of food-grains decreases. It creates a shortage of food in the affected areas. Due to shortage of food, the prices go up. At the high prices, some people cannot afford to buy food. If such calamity happens in a very widespread areas or is stretched over longer time period, it may cause a situation of starvation. A massive starvation might take a turn of famine.
Question 19.
Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger?
Answer:
Chronic hunger is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and/or quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of their very low income and in turn inability to buy food . even for survival. Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting. This is prevalent in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities and in urban areas because of the casual labour, e.g., there is less work for casual construction labour during the rainy season. This type of hunger exists when a person is unable to get work for the entire year.
Question 20.
What has our government done to provide food security to the poor? Discuss any two schemes launched by the government?
Answer:
Indian government is trying to achieve self sufficiency in. food-grams since independence. With the help of green revolution it succeeded in achieving it. Green revolution has avoided famine even during adverse weather conditions. Since 1970’s variety of crops are grown all over the country. The availability of food-grains at the country level has been further ensured with a carefully designed food security system by the government. This system has two components: (a) buffer stock and, (b) public distribution system.
(a) Buffer stock—The stock of food-grains
procured by the government through Food Corporation of India is called as buffer stock. The FCI procures these food-grains from areas where they are surplus. It purchases them from farmers at pre-announced price. Government maintains buffer stock to distribute food grains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price. This also helps resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during the calamity.
(b) Public distribution system—Supply of essential commodities by the government to the people is referred to as public distribution system. The food procured by the FCI is distributed through government regulated ration shops among the poorer section of the society. Ration shops are also known as fair price shops. These shops keejp stock of food- grains, sugar, kerosene, oil for cooking. These items, are sold to people at a price lower than the market’price.
Question 21.
Why is a buffer stock created by the government?
Answer:
Buffer stock is created to distribute food-grains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price also known as issue price.
Question 22.
Write notes on:
(a) Minimum support price,
(b) Buffer stock,
(c) Issue price,
(d) Fair price shops,
Answer:
(a) Minimum support price—
It is aprice at which FCI purchases food grain from farmers. This price is pre-announced. to encourage farmers for raising the production of crops. The price is announced every year before sowing. MSP has raised the the government.
(b) Buffer stock—
It is the stock of food grains, particularly wheat and rice, which the government procures through the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The FCI purchases these cereals directly from the farmers of those states where they are in surplus. The price of these commodities are announced much before the actual sowing season of these crops. The food grains thus purchased by the FCI are kept in big granaries and called ‘Buffer Stock’.
(c) Issue price—
It is the price at which the government distributes food- grains ‘ in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society. This price is lower than the market price.
(d) Fair price shops—
The food grains procured by the government through the Food Corporation of India are distributed among the poorer sections of the society through ration shops. These are called ‘Fair Price Shops’ because food grains are supplied to the poor through these shops at a price lower than the market price, which is often high.
Question 23.
What are the problems of functioning of ration shops?
Answer:
The problems of functioning of ration shops aire—
(i) The price of APL family is as high as market price.
(ii) Shopkeepers of these shops divert the grains to open market to earn profits.
(iii) Poor quality grains are sold at ration shops.
(iv) Irregular opening of shops.
(v) Unsold stocks of poor quality of grains are left. Thus a massive stock piles up with FQ. This increases maintenance cost.
Question 24.
Write a note on the role of co-operatives in providing food and related items.
Answer:
The co-operatives are also playing an important role in food security in India especially in the southern and western parts of the country. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low priced foods to poor people. For example, out of all fair price shops running in Tamil Nadu, around 94 percent are being run by the co-operatives. In Delhi, Mother Dairy is making strides inprovision of milk and vegetables to toe consumers at con¬trolled rate decided by government of Delhi.
Similarly, in Maharashtra, Academy of Development Science (ADS) has facilitated a network of NGOs for setting up grain banks in different regions. ADS organises training and capacity building programmers on food-security for NGOs. Grain Banks are now slowly taking shape in different parts of Maharastra. ADS efforts to set up Grain Banks, to facilitate replication through other NGOs and to influence the government’s policy on food security are thus paying rich dividends. The ADS Grain Bank programme is acknowledged as a successful and innovative food security intervention.
Activity
Gather detailed information about some of the programmes initiated by the government, which have food component Discuss with your teacher.
Answer:
- Rural wage employment programme.
- Employment gurantee scheme.
- Sampuma Grameen Rojgar-Yojana.
- Mid day meal scheme.
- Integrated child development services etc.
These Solutions are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science. Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 4 Food Security in India.