India’s Agrifood Systems: Need for Reform & Policy Interventions

• India’s agrifood systems, from production to consumption, require reform to improve dietary diversity and ensure sustainable nutrition security. The country’s reliance on cereal-centric policies, dominated by wheat and rice, limits access to essential nutrients, contributing to the growing “double burden of malnutrition” — both undernutrition and obesity. Reforming these systems is essential to achieving SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and improving food security, dietary quality, and nutrition for all.

Need for Reform of India’s Agrifood Systems

• Limited Dietary Diversity: Heavy reliance on wheat, rice, and sugar has led to poor dietary diversity, causing nutrient deficiencies. A shift to diverse crops is essential for better nutrition.
• Double Burden of Malnutrition: While hunger has decreased, rising obesity from processed foods creates a “double burden” of undernutrition and obesity.
• Access and Affordability: Over 55% of the population could not afford a healthy diet in 2022, highlighting the need for better access to nutritious food.
• Government Initiatives: Efforts to promote millets, procure pulses through PDS, and invest in food fortification must be expanded.
• Policy Overhaul: India’s nutrition policy needs to focus on balanced, diversified diets, moving beyond cereal security.

Strategies and Implementation of Agrifood System Reforms

• Promoting Diverse Crop Production: Encourage growing millets & pulses through schemes like the National Food Security Mission & PLISMBP, supported by research from institutions like the Indian Institute of Millets Research.
• Reforming the Public Distribution System (PDS): Include pulses and nutrient-rich foods like makhana in the PDS, building on the success of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which distributed over 1.2 million tons of pulses.
• Enhancing Affordability: Use subsidies and programs like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) & National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture to make diverse, nutritious foods affordable, addressing the fact that 55.6% of the population couldn’t afford a healthy diet in 2022.
• Food Fortification: Fortify staples like salt, oil, and flour with essential micronutrients, as seen in successful pilot programs that reduced anemia by 20%.
• Regulating Processed Foods: Introduce taxes and clear labelling on ultra-processed foods to curb their rising consumption, which grew at 13.37% annually from 2011 to 2021.

Key Strategies & Policy Interventions for Crop Diversification & Sustainability in India

• Promoting Millets and Pulses:
  • Millet Cultivation: Promote millet farming through subsidies, research (E.g., Indian Institute of Millets Research), and awareness campaigns. India accounted for 43.90% of global millet production, with 9.76 million hectares cultivated in 2021.
  • Pulse Procurement and Distribution: Ensure active procurement and distribution of pulses via PDS, demonstrated during COVID-19 with 1.2 million tons under PMGKAY. Pulse production in 2024 was estimated at 24 million tons.
• Reforming the Public Distribution System (PDS): PDS reforms should expand to include diverse foods and improve logistical efficiency. States like Chhattisgarh have shown positive impacts on diet diversity, suggesting scalability.
• Enhancing Food Affordability: Targeted PDS (TPDS) covers 81.35 crore people but needs expansion to include more nutritious foods. Increased rural wages have made healthier diets more affordable but gaps remain.
• Food Fortification and Supplementation: India’s long-standing food fortification programs include iodine in salt and vitamins in vanaspati. Recent efforts include fortifying rice with iron and wheat flour under PMGKAY to address micronutrient deficiencies.
• Containing the Ill Effects of Processed Food: The ultra-processed food sector grew at 13.37% annually (2011-2021). Introducing nutrient-based taxes and labeling, as recommended by WHO, can help curb consumption and improve public health.

Issues in the Implementation of Reforms

• Affordability: Challenges include the high cost of nutritious foods, logistical issues in expanding PDS, and resistance to shifting from cereal-centric policies.
• Malnutrition: The dual burden of undernutrition and obesity is a critical concern, with projections of 450 million overweight adults by 2050, calling for urgent action.
• Coordination: Successful implementation requires coordination between central and state governments, the private sector, and the public, ensuring consistent policy execution.
• Regional Variation: Dietary diversity varies across regions, with northern and central states showing higher MDD failure rates. State-specific PDS reforms and agricultural diversification are needed to address regional preferences.

Conclusion

• Reforming India’s agrifood systems to enhance dietary diversity and ensure sustainable nutrition security is a complex, multi-dimensional task. By focusing on improving production, distribution, affordability, fortification, education, and governance, India can mitigate the dual burden of malnutrition and make significant progress toward achieving SDG 2 (Zero Hunger).

  Reference: Business Standard

PMF IAS Pathfinder for Mains – Question 116

Q. Discuss how India can reform its agrifood systems, dominated by cereals, to promote dietary diversity and ensure sustainable nutrition security. (15 Marks) (250 Words)

Approach

• Introduction: Begin by briefly outlining India’s existing agrifood system, highlighting its focus on cereal production and its limitations.
• Body: Discuss specific strategies like promoting millet and pulses cultivation, reforming the PDS to include diverse foods, enhancing affordability through subsidies, etc., while addressing processed food’s negative impact.
• Conclusion: End by connecting the reforms to sustainability, ensuring alignment with SDG 2 and long-term nutrition security.