There are some anomalies in our food intake that can be a matter of concern. The emphasis on increased production and self-sufficiency has been partial towards wheat and rice. The production of cereals in India has on an average been greater than the domestic demand since the middle of the 1990s. Surprisingly, whereas the per capita production of cereals has increased from 145 kg during the 1970s to 158 kg during 2000, domestic consumption or utilisation of cereals has grown at a lower rate. This, in turn, has given an impetus to increased export of cereals from India with an export of around 10 million tonnes per year on an average. This affirms that the increase in the per capita cereal production is not leading to an increase in the domestic intake. This has its inevitable impact on the level of nutrition so far as Indian consumers are concerned.
The National Sample Survey Organisation conducted studies between 1993-94 and 2011-12. This is related to the per capita annual household consumption of cereals. This indicates a decline of about 17 per cent in 18 years. The per capita annual household consumption of cereals also declined from around 155 kg to 129 kg.
Whereas the production of cereals has increased the production of pulses, a staple food, has not even matched the pace of the growth of the population. The per capita production of pulses in India declined from 18.5 kg during 1965-1970 to about 15 kg during 2011-14. The lowest figure was in the year 2002-2003 amounting to 10.5 kg whereas the consumption of cereals is falling though production is increasing and there is export of cereals. India has to import pulses as it is not capable to meet the domestic demand. According to an available study, the net per capita availability of pulses has declined from around 18.2 kg in 1965-1970 to 15.4 kg around 2011-14.
With a trend of increasing population, nutrition has been a problem, more so in States such as Odisha. The declining cereal intake despite its availability has caused a decline in per capita dietary energy intake. The other food items like fruits, vegetables, edible oil, sugar, eggs, meat, milk products. etc., have indicated some amount of increase in their production. But they have not been able to compensate the decline in cereal consumption. In this background, the norms recommended by the Indian Council for Medical Research and National Institute of Nutrition have remained mute witnesses to their non-implementation.
Indian dietary habits have not permitted a suitable modification or diversification in introducing livestock products, particularly those linked with meat. Even a vegetarian consumer does not have an adequately nutritional dietary structure. Most of the snacks and sweets are made from pulses and are not based on livestock products. The consumption of pulses by Indians has also been affected by the rising prices. The consumption of pulses has of necessity to be increased for a significant improvement in the nutritional level of the population alongside ensuring better intake of food for the population in general.
The real problem lies in the arena of increased availability of pulses in the country. India presently meets about one-fifth of the domestic demand through imports, which are becoming increasingly difficult to organise. India, having explored 46 markets in different countries, is at best able to arrange only around five million tonnes of pulses. Unlike edible oil, pulses are not easily available for import from other countries. One that factors contributing to this is the increasing demand of pulses and their increased intake in most of the developed countries. India is the largest producer of pulses as well as the largest consumer of pulses. It is, therefore, essential that India increases the domestic production of pulses through suitable steps in this regard.
This would require a study of the reasons for the low productivity of pulses in India. High-yielding varieties of pulses have not shown any growth potential, maybe in the absence of technological breakthrough. Pulses are grown in India in marginal and poor environments under rain-fed conditions. Insects and pests as well as other environmental factors make the productivity vulnerable and low. In the field of pulses, technology requires the attention of one and all. There is a dire necessity to upgrade practices and implement a variety of policy supports so far as pulses are concerned. Research in this regard has not thrown up any new technology to come to our rescue.
Cereals continue and will continue to be the main pillars of levels of nutrition. But a reduction in the republic of hunger and an improvement in the level of nutrition demand greater production and consumption of pulses.
Our agricultural policy is not based on these realistic factors. The production pattern and the related investments are not planned keeping the national objectives in view. The farmer hardly receives any guidance in planning out his crop patterns and to increase the production of items that are badly required by the country for ensuring a nutritionally healthy population. Surely, our five-rupee rice-dalma does not meet the nutritional requirement of an average citizen. We are time and again reminded of the facts that we exist at a subsistence level. A few, who are rich, can afford nutritionally rich and balanced food intake.
It is also a matter of concern that the year 2015 was the worst. There has been a mammoth increase in the suicide of farmers during the last year. According to reports emanating from the State Agriculture Department, around 138 farmers committed suicide in 2015 against a mere five in 2014. The report also admits that the reasons for the suicide are mainly indebtedness and crop loss. A distorted agricultural policy can worsen the situation for which necessary and effective intervention is utterly essential. Injection of liquid money at the appropriate time to meet the expenses on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, labour and other related items could save the farmer from running to private moneylenders. This tends to worsen the situation than improve it in any manner.
This, in turn, is bound to have an adverse impact on the youth power, which grows up without adequate nutrition with its attendant problems, as the youth grows older and requires a better attention for its nutritional needs. A study of nutritional pattern and shortcomings therein in a State like Odisha is an imminent necessity. The elders, who have suffered lack of nutrition, should guide younger elements into organising a movement towards remedying this fundamental imbalance. An area-wise study is required to plan out a cropping pattern that would enrich the nutrition and health levels of our population. In this endeavour, no one can be left out. And surely this concerns us all!
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former Diplomat, a former Editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha. jayantdas@hotmail.com)