Question answers of Ch- Food security in India

Question.1. What is food security ?
Answer. Food security means availability, accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times.

Question.2. Name any two factors on which the food security depends upon.
Answer. (i) Buffer stock.
(ii) Public Distribution System (PDS).
(iii) Vigilancy of the government at the time of natural calamity.
(iv) Food production.

Question.3. Name the two dimensions of hunger.
Answer. Chronic : It is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and/or quality.
Seasonal: It is related to the cycles of food growing and harvesting.

Question.4. Mention any two factors responsible for seasonal hunger.
Answer. (i) Seasonal hunger is related to the cycle of food growing and harvesting. This is prevalent in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities.
(ii) Seasonal hunger is prevalent in urban areas due to lack of job opportunities.

Question.5.Define Green Revolution.
Answer. The Green Revolution implies large increase in agricultural production due to use of high yielding varieties of seeds and other inputs such as manure, fertilizers, etc.

Question.6. What is buffer stock ?
Answer. Buffer stock is the stock of foodgrains, namely wheat and rice procured by the government through Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Question7.What is minimum support price ?
Answer. The farmers are paid a pre-announced price for their crops. This price is called Minimum Support Price. The MSP is before the sowing season to provide incentives to the farmers for raising the production of these crops declared by the government every year.

Question.8. What is issue price ?
Answer. It is a price at which foodgrains are distributed in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price.

Question.9. What is Public Distribution System (PDS) ?
Answer. Under public distribution system or the PDS, the Government has opened more than 4.6 lakh ration shops all over the country to distribute foodgrains and other essential goods to the poor people at reasonable rates.

Question.10 Mention the names of any four cooperative societies working in different states of India.
Answer. (i) Mother Dairy- Delhi
(ii) Amul-Gujarat
(iii) Verka-Punjab
(iv) Academy of Development Science- Maharashtra

Question.11. What is a subsidy ?
Answer. A subsidy is a payment that a government makes to a producer to supplement the market price of a commodity. Subsidies can keep consumer prices low while maintaining a higher income for domestic producers.

Question-12 Why is food security essential? How food security is affected during disaster?
Answers. In the times of any natural calamity, say a drought, total production of foodgrains declines. It creates a shortage of food, particularly in the affected areas. Due to shortage of food, the prices go up in the market. At high prices, poor people may not afford to buy food. If such a calamity occurs in a large area, it may lead to starvation.