NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 – Food Security in India

The study of the creation, consumption, and transfer of wealth in economics. It explores how people, corporations, governments, and nations make resource allocation decisions, especially for scarce resources.

India is counted as a developing country with most of its population still not self-sufficient in necessities of food. The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 defines food security as the ready availability and accessibility to food at affordable rates to continually protect the people from hunger and starvation for the present and future. The government ensures smooth availability and distribution of food grains to the poor and needy whenever the food production or distribution is affected, for example when there are any circumstances like war, natural disasters, pandemic etc. 

Extramarks NCERT Solutions provide detailed and authentic answers to all the textbook questions. Through those, the students can understand, remember and retain answers to NCERT questions and thus, perform well in exams.

There are chances that students find social science monotonous and strenuous to mug up. Extramarks make each topic easily comprehensible by supplementing examples, short stories, illustrations, and statistical analysis. The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 also adds projects and case studies for students to work on and retain the concepts after good understanding rather than just memorising them. The syllabus based on NCERT guidelines will help students score high in the CBSE exams. 

Apart from NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 by Extramarks, students can access various other comprehensive study materials on the Extramarks website. For example, study material such as NCERT books, CBSE revision notes, CBSE sample papers, and CBSE past year question papers, all curated by experts after a lot of research, is available for all classes.

Key Topics Covered in NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4

The following table covers critical topics of the NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4:

 

Introduction
Importance of food security in India
Category of people affected by food insecurity
Dimensions of hunger
A buffer stock of food grains and PDS
Present scenario of the distribution system
Involvement of cooperatives and NGOs
FAQ

Introduction

Humans exist on air, water and food, and each person has a right to these necessities. The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 says that every citizen has a right to sufficient nutritious food available closer to home and at an affordable price. Therefore, we need to produce enough food grains within our country, keep stock for the future and even import it to satisfy the population’s needs. Accessibility of this food to each citizen is also the government’s responsibility. Finally, affordability implies that individuals can have enough income to purchase sufficient, safe and nutritious food to live a healthy life. 

Importance of food security in India

The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 explain that food production and distribution are poorly affected during a catastrophe like a drought, tsunami, earthquake, or flood. Due to the above mentioned,  supply of food is less and chances of high inflation hitting the market is very high. Suppose the calamity affects larger demography or exists for a prolonged duration, this results in a case of starvation, water contamination, food decay, disease, and deaths of people in huge numbers. The devastating Famine of Bengal in 1943 is one such example that claimed thirty lakh people’s lives. 

Category of people affected by food insecurity

The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 describes the section of society worst affected by food insecurities: landless farm labour, traditional artisans, casual work, beggars, and generally all workers employed in petty and seasonal jobs. These people neither have a steady income nor have any savings or investments for the future. Moreover, casteism in our society pushes the economically backward caste/ tribe families into the bracket of food-insecure people. Usually, older people, women and female infants do not get a fair share of resources. In addition, natural disasters render people homeless and force them to migrate in search of food and jobs. Such people also risk food insecurity. 

As per the NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4, certain states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are more exposed to food insecurity than the rest of India. This is because these states house a more significant proportion of inaccessible terrain, economically backward communities, and disaster-prone regions of India. 

Dimensions of hunger

Hunger is a direct outcome of food insecurity and poverty. We learn from the NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 that hunger has chronic and seasonal characteristics. An individual who is continuously short on quality and quantity of food to meet their daily dietary needs suffers from chronic hunger. Poor people suffer from hunger due to their meagre or no income. Then seasonal hunger is attributed to agricultural cycles where the farmer families may fall short on food grains. In urban areas, construction sites or casual labourers suffer seasonal hunger during the rainy season or at times of pandemic when there is no work.  

The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 mentions that our country has been striving for self-sufficiency in food grains since independence. The Green Revolution was a massive success as it yielded a very high production of wheat in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and rice in West Bengal. However, the pocketed nature of produce meant unequal availability and distribution of food grains. 

A buffer stock of food grains and PDS

In the last 30 years, we have been able to meet the self-sufficiency of food grains to a large extent by growing alternate crops in between wheat and rice. But, as we learn in the NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4, the other reason is the government policy on buffer stock of food grains and the public distribution system. The government authorised the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to procure wheat and rice from the states’ farmers having excess food grains at a pre-decided Minimum Support Price (MSP). Farmers also know of the MSP before the sowing season, which acts as an incentive. The purchased food, called the Buffer Stock, is stored in government granaries to be distributed amongst the weaker section at meagre rates, called Issue Price. The Buffer Stock comes in handy during wartime, calamities, pandemics, or other adversities where food is in shortage.  

The chain of government-controlled ration shops across India, where food grains procured by FCI are stored in small quantities, and sold to the people at regulated issue price, is called the Public Distribution System (PDS). The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 states that there are about 5.5 lakh such ration shops or Fair Price shops covering almost all localities, villages, small towns, and cities of India. First, each family is issued a ration card giving details of the family members, monthly entitlement, etc. Then, they purchase wheat, rice, sugar, cooking oil, and kerosene. 

Present scenario of the distribution system

The PDS did not differentiate between the rich and the poor. The Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) and the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) were introduced in the 1990s to reach out to the poor in every nook and corner of the country. To make the system more efficient and targeted, in 2000, Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Annapurna Scheme (APS) were linked to the existing PDS to address extreme poverty and the aged population. As per the NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4, the government distribution system has ensured food security for the poor and arrested poverty to a large extent. The MSP offered by FCI has given incentives and higher income to farmers growing wheat and rice. 

But the PDS is not without flaws. There are cases of excessive stocking for long durations leading to decay and contamination of the food products. The greed of higher MSP drives the farmers to divert all land towards growing only wheat and rice and not the other coarse grains, which are the staple food of the poor. Also, rice consumes vast quantities of water, which ultimately affects the water table and threatens other agriculture in those regions. The high cost of transportation and storage and the ever-growing MSP has increased the government’s burden. There are other loopholes to the PDS like malpractices by ration shop dealers, poor quality of products, varying shop opening times, and differential pricing based on income, which did not work out for the APL (above poverty line) families. 

Involvement of cooperatives and NGOs

The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 talks about cooperatives’ efficiency, especially in western and southern India in the food distribution. Other cooperatives like Mother Dairy in Delhi and Amul in Gujarat are also doing excellent work. In Maharashtra, the Academy of Development Science (ADS) is training NGOs on food security and helping them to set up grain banks across the state. The ADS Grain Bank programme is significant progress in the novel ways to ensure food security in India.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 Exercises &  Solutions

This chapter can be  comprehensive , and children should revise well to understand concepts. The exercises and solutions of NCERT Solutions Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 4 will help them further.

The links given below can be used to access NCERT Solutions for all classes:

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NCERT solutions class 4

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Key Features of NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4

Extramarks NCERT Solutions provide detailed and authentic answers to all the textbook questions. Through those, the students can understand, remember and retain answers to NCERT questions and thus, perform well in exams.

The main takeaways from the NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 are listed below:

  • A nation is food secure when there is sufficient stock of nutritious food, readily accessible, and each citizen earns sufficiently to meet their food requirements. 
  • Landless villagers, scheduled caste and tribes, casual labour in the cities, and people with meagre and irregular pay are the most deprived of food and nutrition.
  • The Indian states with high tribal populations, inaccessible terrain, and living in disaster-prone areas are more food insecure than other states.
  • The Indian government has set right this anomaly using buffer stock and public distribution system (PDS) across the country. 
  • Additional welfare schemes (Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS); Food-for-Work (FFW); Mid-Day Meals; Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) etc.), involvement of the cooperative societies and NGOs have fruited well in addressing the problem of food insecurity in India. 

Q.1 How is food security ensured in India?

Ans-

To ensure food security in any country its three dimensions i.e. availability, accessibility and affordability needs to be ensured.

In India, these three dimensions are ensured due to following reasons.

  1. With the advent of Green Revolution India has become self-sufficient in food grains. Now the variety of crops is grown across the country.
  2. Food Corporation of India (FCI) maintains buffer stock. It procures wheat and rice from farmers in states where there is surplus production at minimum support price.
  3. Government distributes the grains procured by FCI through government regulated ration shops (also called fair price shop). The process of distribution of essential items like food grains, sugar, etc. is known public distribution system.
  4. Along with these, government is also running special programmes like
  • Integrated child development programme
  • Food for work programme
  • Poverty alleviation programmes
  • Mid day meal
  • Employment generation programmes

These programmes contribute in ensuring food security in India.

Q.2 Which are the people more prone to food insecurity?

Ans-

The following people are more prone to food insecurity:

  • In rural areas landless people, petty self-employed workers, destitute (beggars) suffer from food insecurity.
  • In urban areas, casual labourers, workers employed in seasonal activities and ill-paid occupations are badly affected from food insecurity.
  • People affected by natural disasters, compelled to migrate to other cities are also amongst the most food insecure people.
  • A large portion of women (especially nursing and pregnant women) and children under the age of 5 years are amongst the food insecure people.
  • The SCs, STs, and OBC who have small holdings of land or low productivity are prone to food insecure people.

Q.3 Which states are more food insecure in India?

Ans-

The following states are more food insecure in India:

  • Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south-eastern parts)
  • Bihar
  • Jharkhand
  • Orissa
  • West Bengal
  • Chattisgarh
  • Parts of Madhya Pradesh and
  • Maharasthra

Q.4 Do you believe that green revolution has made India self-sufficient in food grains? How?

Ans-

Yes, we believe that green revolution has made India self-reliant in food grains. Since independence India was striving hard to attain self sufficiency in food grains production. In 1969, India adopted a new strategy in agriculture which resulted in the Green revolution (especially in wheat and rice production). In this strategy farmers were encouraged to adopt HYV seeds, new methods of production, irrigation methods, insecticides and pesticides, etc. Owing to this reason India has become self sufficient in food grains during the last thirty years. Now the varieties of crops are grown across the country.

But this growth was disproportionate. The growth rate of food grain production increased in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab immediately after green revolution but the growth rate did not change in other states. The growth rate of foodgrains is increasing in other states now.

Q.5 A section of people in India are still without food. Explain?

Ans-

Due to adoption of Green Revolution, India has achieved self-sufficiency in food grains production in last thirty years. But still a section of people in India are without food. It is because:

  • Landless labour, casual labour, ill-paid workers, etc. earn meager or less income which is not sufficient to get two squares of meal a day.
  • SCs, STs and OBCs (lower caste amongst them) who have low land-base or low productivity are food insecure.
  • The people affected by natural disasters are forced to migrate in other states, left without food.
  • Corruption in PDS distribution is one of the main reasons why people are left without food. PDS shop owners divert grains in local market or sell grains at higher prices.

Q.6 What happens to the supply of food when there is a disaster or a calamity?

Ans-

At the time of natural disaster or natural calamity, the supply of food gets affected in following ways:

  • The production of food grains declines which results in the shortage of supply of food in the affected areas. This in turn causes food prices to rise and people are not able to buy food because of high prices. If the calamity continues for a longer period it can lead to massive starvation which can take the form of famine.
  • There is disruption of communication and transportation due to natural calamity. It hinders transportation of food even if the adequate food is available in the country. Due to communication and transportation gap food does not reach to needy.

Q.7 Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger?

Ans-

Seasonal hunger

Chronic hunger
It exists when a person is unable to get food for a certain period of time during the year. Permanent inadequacy of quantity and quality of diet results in chronic hunger.
Irregular nature of work results in irregular income and less capacity to buy food. Poor sections with very low income are unable to buy good quality food on a regular basis.
e.g. seasonal farming, casual labour activities, construction worker, etc. e.g. beggars, house help workers, etc.

Q.8 What has our government done to provide food security to the poor? Discuss any two schemes launched by the government?

Ans-

The government has ensured the availability to food grains at the country level by carefully designing the food security system. This system has two components: (a) Buffer Stock (b) Public Distribution System.

Many schemes have been launched by the government to provide food security to the people. Two of them are as follows:

1. Food Security Act, 2013: This Act aims to provide food and nutritional security to life at affordable prices and enable people to live a life with dignity. It provides a legal entitlement to subsidised food-grains to 75 % of the country’s rural population and 50 % of urban India.

2. Antyodaya Anna Yojana: This scheme was introduced in December 2000. It was meant for the poorest among the BPL families. Under this scheme the poor are given 35 kg of food grains every month at a highly subsidised rate of 3 per kg for rice and 2 per kg for wheat.

Q.9 Why buffer stock is created by the government?

Ans-

Buffer stock can be defined as the stock of food grains procured by the government through Food Corporation of India with the aim to meet any shortage of demand in future.

Buffer stock (mainly of wheat and rice) is created by the government for following purposes:

1. For distributing grains to the deficit areas

2. For distributing grains amongst poor people at lower prices

3. To meet the problem of food insecurity at the time of natural calamities

Q.10 Write notes on:

  1. Minimum support price
  2. Buffer stock
  3. Issue price
  4. Fair price shops

Ans-

  1. Minimum support price, MSP is the pre announced price at which Food Corporation of India procures crops from farmers. This price is declared by the government every year before sowing season to provide incentives to farmers for raising crops. Also, government gives assurance to farmers that it will purchase food grains at MSP in case of fall in market price. Government uses this tool to intervene in the market.
  2. The buffer stock is created by the government to ensure food security in the country. At the minimum support price government purchases food grains from the market and the purchased food grains are stored in granaries.
  3. The price at which government distributes foodgrains in the deficit areas and amongst the poorer strata of society is known as Issue price. This price is generally lower than the market price.
  4. The food procured by Food Corporation of India is distributed at lower prices amongst poorer strata of the society through government regulated shops. These shops are also known as fair price shop. Apart from food grains, these shops also distribute other essential items like sugar.

Q.11 What are the problems of the functioning of ration shops?

Ans-

Some of the problems relating to the functioning of ration shops are as follows:

  • Ration shop dealers are found resorting to malpractices like, diverting food grains to open markets to get better profit margin, selling poor quality of food grains, irregular opening of shops etc.
  • It has been observed that rations shops regularly have unsold stocks of poor quality grains. Over time this is becoming the grave problem because ration shops are unable to sell and huge stocks of food grains are piling up with FCI.
  • Sometimes the price charged by ration shop owners is much higher than the government prescribed prices.
  • A large number of families are unable to buy foodgrains from the ration shops due to fixation of quota. These include low income families whose incomes are marginally higher than the below poverty line.
  • Under TPDS, three different prices are charged. The price for APL (above poverty line) is almost same as in the open market. Hence, they have little or no incentive to purchase foodgrains from ration shops.

Q.12 Write a note on the role of cooperatives in providing food and related item.

Ans-

In India, the role played by cooperatives in providing food and related items is important. These cooperatives are playing imperative role in southern and northern parts of India in providing food. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people. For example, in Tamil Nadu, 94 percent of fair price shops are being run by cooperatives.

Another example of cooperatives is the Mother Dairy, in Delhi, which provides milk and vegetables to consumers at controlled rates decided by the Government of Delhi.

Amul, a cooperative of milk and milk products from Gujarat has brought white revolution in the country. In Maharashtra, the Academy of Development Science (ADS) has created a network of organisation for setting up grain banks in different regions. It also organises training and capacity building programmes on food security. Due to ADS efforts grains banks are setting up in different parts of Maharashtra and now it becomes inspiration for other NGOs to work on same footing and to influence the government policy.

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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Some of the crucial questions from the NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 are listed below:

  • How does food security help the nation in times of adversities?
  • Which section of India’s population is the most food insecure?
  • Was PDS effective in India?
  • How did the government schemes help the poor?

The professional team at Extramarks has dealt with the subject of Food Security very effectively by detailing all the essential aspects, well supported by the easy language, census data, hypothetical situations, and statistical analysis. Based on the NCERT syllabus pattern, NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Economics Chapter 4 will prepare the children for their CBSE examination without referring to anything else.

The main highlight of the Economics Chapter 4 Class 9 is the emphasis on food security in India. History has taught us the consequences of disasters deprive the people of quantity and quality food. A country’s economic development lies in the well-being of its citizens. Through this chapter, we learn the various aspects of food security and how it can be assured and insured in days to come.