Q.Write a short note on: Concept of food security

Among the listed outcomes, a rise in food-grain prices is NOT a benefit of the Green Revolution -- in fact the Green Revolution, by boosting supply, helped keep food-grain prices stable/lower.

The Green Revolution (adoption of HYV seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, mainly in wheat and rice from the late-1960s) delivered several genuine advantages for India: it made India largely self-sufficient in food-grain production (option A, a real advantage), allowed the government to build up sufficient buffer stocks of food grains for food security (option B, a real advantage), and created a larger marketable surplus of food grains available for sale beyond farmers' own consumption needs (option C, a real advantage). An INCREASE in the prices of food grains, however, was not a benefit -- the Green …

The rural banking system in India is supervised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), not the State Bank of India (SBI). Statement (D) is incorrect.

Statements (A), (C) and (D) are standard arguments for continuing agricultural subsidies; statement (B) -- that subsidies mainly benefit the fertilizer industry and big, already well-off farmers rather than the small and marginal farmers who need them most -- is the standard argument against subsidies, so it is the one that is not in favour.

Arguments commonly given in favour of agricultural subsidies include: they encourage the adoption of new, high-yielding technology among farmers who would otherwise be reluctant to take the risk (A); they help offset the disadvantage faced by poor farmers relative to large farmers, promoting equity (C); and they provide a cushion against the price/weather/market uncertainties farmers face (D). In contrast, critics argue that, over time, subsidies have mainly b …

Green Revolution areas needed assured irrigation — Rajasthan largely lacked it.

The Green Revolution (adoption of High-Yielding Variety seeds, chemical fertilisers and assured irrigation) took hold mainly in states with reliable irrigation infrastructure: Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (irrigated paddy belts). Rajasthan, being predomin …

Labour-intensive → more employment per unit of capital, better suited to India.

Small-scale and cottage industries use relatively more labour and less capital than large-scale, capital-intensive industry. Since India has abundant labour but scarce capital, these industries generate far more employment per unit of investment, help spread industrial activity into rural and semi-urban areas (promoting balanced regional development), support traditional artisan livelihoods, and need comparatively little capital/technical sophistication to start — making them more suited to India's resource endowment than large-scal …

NABARD, set up in 1982, is the apex (top-level) institution refinancing rural and agricultural credit in India.

India's rural credit system has several institutions, but only one sits at the apex, refinancing the others:

• RRBs (Regional Rural Banks) are retail-level institutions that lend directly to farmers and rural borrowers in their regions; they are not a refinancing apex body.
• NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation) deals with marketing of agricultural produce, not credit refinancing.
• Self Help Groups (SHGs) are grassroots-level groups that pool small savings and extend micro-credit to their own members. …

Long-term agricultural credit is sanctioned for a repayment period of roughly 5 to 20 years, for investments whose returns are realised only over a long horizon.

Agricultural/rural credit is conventionally classified by duration:

• Short-term credit (up to about 15 months): meets seasonal needs like buying seeds, fertilisers and paying wages, repaid out of the very next harvest.
• Medium-term credit (roughly 15 months to 5 years): used for purchasing bullocks, implements, or minor land improvements, repaid over a few crop cycles. …