Muqbil Ahmar | Blog

Till the 70s,  India imported food  and depended on foreign donors. Famines were common. Lack of development and modern technology, faulty food distribution, and other factors led to a big chunk of population going hungry and unable to feed.  Malnutrition  and  starvation  were the biggest problems facing the country. Food grains had to be imported as traditional agricultural practices, with low productivity, were unable to sustain a growing  population . There was strain on foreign exchange reserves. Green Revolution increased food grain production several times Green Revolution  happened in the 1970s.  Modern agriculture technology  ushered in the era of increased output. It led to increased agricultural production, helping Indian government to maintain buffer food grain stocks. India gained self-reliance and self-sufficiency. The new methods were led by  American agronomist and humanitarian Norman Borlaug , also called  Father of Green Revolution . He received  Nobel Peace

A huge chunk of the Indian population suffers from chronic hunger. On the  Global Hunger Index , India is at the 97th position. According to a study by the  International Food Policy Research Institute  ( IRPRI ), one-sixth of India’s population is undernourished, while 190 million people go to bed hungry daily. A total of 30% children below the age of 5 years are underweight. India alone accounts for around 30% of neo-natal deaths internationally, all linked to  malnutrition . Rs. 50,000 crore worth food wasted yearly  behind India’s hunger One may be tempted to conclude that the culprit is insufficient food production. However, this is not true. In India’s case, around 40 percent of fruits and vegetables and about 20 percent of grains get destroyed because of insufficient infrastructure and supply chains that are inefficient. Food never reaches consumers. Around Rs. 50,000 crore worth of food is wasted every year. Such wastage has other ramifications as well. It results not