The average per capita food consumption is about 500 gm per person, which is much lower than the global average, said Prof. Venkatesh B Atreya, of the MS Swaminathan Foundation.
Talking to The Hindu , the professor pointed out that 500 gm was the average value and when it comes to the people from below poverty line, it would be much lower.
India has made some progress in addressing the calorific deficiency, but still much is to be achieved. In 2009-10 about one-seventh of the rural and one-sixth of the urban population had a caloric intake below 1,890, which is only 70 per cent of the global adult norm of 2,700 calories per day, he said. According to him though some progress has been made the caloric intake, the country is way down when it comes to protein and micro-nutrient intake and that is why malnutrition among children and women is still rampant. On food security in India, he pointed out that the Food Security Bill, which is still to be passed in Parliament need to be cleared as soon as possible. “The Bill addresses many areas including strengthening the public distribution system (PDS), which is an important component for food security” said Prof. Atreya.
According to the professor, food security basically hinges upon three components – availability, access and absorption.
Availability of food at the macro level depends on production and net imports and at the micro level it hinges on transport, infrastructure and market integration. And as far as availability is concerned, India has done well but still lacks in access and absorption, he said.
In 2001, the production of food grains was about 196.1 MT and in 2014 it had gone up to 263.20 MT, but the food security index in 1999 was 105.58 and in 2008 it was 105.98. This indicates that access and absorption is still to be addressed, he said.
According to him, while access largely depends on employment and purchasing power, absorption depends on factors such as hygiene, sanitation and health.
The professor was here to deliver a guest lecture at UGC Centre for SAARC Studies in Andhra University.