Central Idea

• The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DoF&PD), in particular the Food Corporation of India (FCI), must have heaved a sigh of relief that the procurement of wheat so far has crossed 20 million tonnes (MT), a notch higher than last year. Three states Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have contributed more than 98 per cent to the central pool.

Wheat production estimates

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) had earlier estimated the wheat production for this year to be 112 MT. However, the impact of unseasonal rains on wheat production has made the revised estimate uncertain.
• Punjab: Punjab, one of the largest contributors to wheat procurement, is also in the process of estimating losses due to rough weather just before the harvest time. Despite the unseasonal rains, interactions with Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), market functionaries and farmers suggest that the production of wheat this year is higher than last year.
• Uttar Pradesh: Uttar Pradesh produces almost double the amount of wheat (about 35 MT) than Punjab (about 18 MT). UP is estimated to procure 3.5 MT of wheat, but so far it has procured a meagre 0.12 MT. Unless it brings a surprise in May and June, the overall wheat procurement may stop well short of even 30 MT.

Facts for prelims

Challenges for providing nutritious food through PDS

• Infrastructure and supply chain: There is a lack of proper infrastructure and supply chain to transport and store nutritious food items such as millets, pulses, and oilseeds. This leads to spoilage, wastage, and ultimately affects the quality of food provided through PDS.
• Cost: Providing nutritious food items through PDS may increase the cost of the program, which can be a challenge for the government to sustain in the long run.
• Awareness and demand: There is a lack of awareness among the general public about the benefits of nutritious food items and the need to include them in their diet. Also, there may not be enough demand for these items, leading to poor offtake and wastage.
• Operational challenges: There are several operational challenges such as sourcing, storage, and distribution of nutritious food items, which need to be addressed for an effective PDS program.
• Political interference: There may be political interference in the selection of food items to be included in PDS, leading to a focus on populist measures rather than on nutritious food items. This can undermine the effectiveness of the program.

Nutrition security through PDS and a help to climate resilient agriculture

• Introducing more nutritious food: The introduction of more nutritious food, such as millets, pulses, and oilseeds, in PDS can help achieve the twin objectives of nutrition and climate resilience.
• Encouraging climate-resilient food: Encouraging the production of climate-resilient food crops like millets, pulses, oilseeds, etc., can help create a steady flow of nutritious food.
• Upgrading fair price shops to Nutritious Food Hubs: At least 10% of fair price shops can be upgraded and declared as Nutritious Food Hubs (NFHs). These NFHs can have fortified, including bio-fortified, rice and wheat, millets, pulses, oilseeds (especially soyabean products with 40% protein), fortified milk and edible oils, eggs, etc.
• Electronic vouchers for targeted beneficiaries: Consumers of PDS list may be given electronic vouchers (like an e-food coupon in a food court) that can be charged by the government three or four times a year.
• Government assistance for upgrading NFHs: The NFHs can be upgraded with government assistance, creating demand for more diversified and nutritious food from the masses.
• Capping the procurement of rice: The procurement of rice would have to be capped, starting with districts where the water table has been depleting alarmingly.
• For example, Sangrur in Punjab has witnessed a fall of groundwater level by more than 25 meters during 2000-2019. Farmers of such districts could be incentivized to grow millets, pulses, oilseeds, etc., that are climate smart, use much less water and fertilizers, thus saving power and fertilizer subsidies.
• Giving a special package for carbon credits: The Centre and the states need to join hands to give a special package for carbon credits for growing such crops. Farmers can be rewarded about Rs 10,000/acre (to be shared equally by the Centre and the state), as these crops would save that much fertilizer subsidy of the Centre and power subsidy of the state.

Conclusion

• The Department of Food and Public Distribution’s Chintan Shivir on leveraging PDS to offer more nutritious food is a great vision, but there are several operational challenges to provide a steady flow of these foods. Upgrading at least 10% of the fair price shops as Nutritious Food Hubs could create a demand for more diversified and nutritious food from the masses. However, capping the procurement of rice and incentivizing farmers to grow millets, pulses, and oilseeds that are climate-smart and use less water and fertilizers is necessary.

Mains Question

Q. How PDS can be leveraged to provided nutritious food and also help make Indian agriculture more climate resilient? Discuss along with the challenges

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your personal mentor for UPSC 2024 | Schedule your FREE session and get the Prelims prep Toolkit!

Also read:

Food Security and Energy Crisis In The South Asian neighbourhood

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now