Food Security Conditions in Chhattisgarh

Dr. (Mrs.) Uma Gole

Associate Professor, School of Studies in Geography, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur – 492010(C.G.)

*Corresponding Author E-mail: umagole@rediffmail.com

ABSTRACT:

After the dawn of Green Revolution India became self sufficient in producing food grains and also increased its productivity; but at present the Country is facing internal food security issues. Regarding these facts the aim of the present paper is to geographically analyze the present food security conditions of Chhattisgarh state. In the present study for the determination of food security firstly the consumption unit for each district is calculated and then for the second step the food availability in monetary value is derived. In the third and final stage the per capita per hectare net food availability in monetary value is determined and based on that the state is categorized into food security zones. The food security zones are classified through the Quartile method, thus four zones of secure, moderately secure, insecure and very insecure food security are obtained.

KEYWORDS: Consumption unit, Food Grain Production, Monetary value, Food security

INTRODUCTION:

Food security is a crucial aspect of life with a complex, multidimensional and complicated concept. It has been visualized at international, national, regional, household and even at individual level. FAO (1984) has defined “Food security as a situation in which all people at all time have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. A direct relationship exists between adequate diet for healthy life and economic development. It’s ironical that in a country self-sufficient in domestic production, India has been witnessing the unmanageably bulging stocks and shortages alternately. For past few years the battle against hunger has been placed at the center of the development discourse in India. The scenario of hunger and food scarcity prevailing in rural India can be characterized by a stark reality that there is availability of food but with little or no access to it for the rural poor. Whereas, the basic elements of food security is availability, accessibility and affordability of food for all times. According to K.M. Modi (2012) in the year 1961 the per capita per day food availability was 468.7 gram which in 2007 has declined to 439.3 gram. The State of Chhattisgarh has a backward agricultural system, where the farmers still practice traditional methods of agriculture.

Paddy is the main crop gown and consumed in the state while the share of other cereals, pulses and cash crops is very minute. Regarding these facts the necessity for geographical analysis of food security conditions in Chhattisgarh arises.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To determine the production of principal crops in the study area.

2. To derive the consumption unit for the study area.

3. To evaluate the food availability in Monetary Valuein the study area.

4. To analyze thepattern of food security condition in the region.

STUDY AREA:

Chhattisgarh is a land-locked state with latitudinal extent from 17º 46' N to 24º 5' N and longitudinal extent from 80º 15' E to 84º 20' E. It covers an area of 1,35,191 sq.km. and at present it constitutes 18 districts. Forests cover roughly 44% of the state. Physiographically the state can be divided into four divisions, namely- Chhotanagpur plateau, Baghelkhand plateau, Mahanadi basin and Dandakaranya upland. Chhattisgarh is drained by three major drainage basins of Mahanadi, Godavari and Son. Soil of the state can be divided into four major types namely Kanhar, Matasi, Dorsa and Bhata. The climate of Chhattisgarh is tropical, its hot and humid because of its proximity to the Tropic of Cancer and its dependence on the monsoons for rains. Summer in Chhattisgarh is from April to June and temperatures can reach 48°C. The monsoon season is from late June to October (average rainfall is 129 centimeters). Winter extends from November to January. Net sown area of the Chhattisgarh state is 4.828 Million hectares and the gross sown area is 5.788 Million hectares. As per Census 2011, Chhattisgarh has population of 2.55 Crore and it forms 2.11 percent of India’s total. The population density is 189 person per sq.km; Literacy rate is 71.04% and percent of rural population is 76.76%. The SC population is 11.6% and ST population is 31.8% as per the Census of 2001.

Per Hectare Food Avilability in Monetary value in Chhattisgarhi

SOURCES OF DATA AND METHODOLOGY:

The analysis is based on secondary data, collected from the Directorate of Agriculture, the Land Record Office, Raipur and Department of Agriculture, Chhattisgarh with district as the unit of analysis. Population data has been derived from the Census of India 2011 reports. Food Security has been a matter of concern for many a decades and many Geographers have conducted their researches in this field, employing different methodologies suiting to their concerns. The research has been conducted in terms of calories, monetary value and land capability, etc. In this present paper we have derived Food Security in terms of Monetary Value, which is devised into three phases. In the first step the consumption unit has been derived from the Population data using, Singh’s Scale of Consumption Unit which is 0.773 (i.e., 1000 person are equal to 773 consumption unit). For the second step the food availability in Monetary Value is calculated from the total available Produces through the Coefficient of Production (0.832), where 16.8 is deducted for wastage (100-16.8=83.2). Lastly, in the third step the Total Food Availability in monetary form is divided by Consumption unit to obtain the Per Capita Per Annum Food Availability in Monetary Value. The so derived district-wise data is categorized into four zones of Food Security/ Insecurity namely- secure, moderately secure, insecure and very insecure.

DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF CONSUMPTION UNIT:

The calculation for deriving the Consumption Unit is based on Singh’s Scale; which states that every 1000 person is equal to 773 consumption units and thus 1 person is equal to 0.773 unit. This value of 0.773 is regarded as Consumption Coefficient and is multiplied with the district population to obtain the consumption unit.

Distribution Pattern of Consumption Unit in Chhattisgarhi

Table No.1 Chhattisgarh: Distribution Pattern of Consumption Unit (2011)

Class	Consumption unit range	No. of districts	Name of districts	% From the total
Very high	> 13,50,000	4	Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Sarguja	22.2
High	13,50,000 to 8,50,000	5	Janjgir-Champa, Rajnandgaon Raigarh, Bastar, Korba	27.8
Moderate	8,50,000 to 5,50,000	5	Mahasamund, Jashpur, Kabeerdham Dhamtari, Kanker	27.8
Low	<5,50,000	4	Koriya, Dantewara, Bijapur, Narayanpur	22.2

Source: Calculated by Author

Table No.2 Chhattisgarh: Per Hectare Food Availability in Monetary value

Class	Food Availability in Monetary Value	No. of districts	Name of districts	% From the total
Very high	>15,000	4	Janjgir-Champa, Dhamtari, Kanker, Mahasamund	22.2
High	15,000 to 12,500	5	Durg, Bastar, Dantewara, Bilaspur, Koriya	27.8
Moderate	12,500 to 10,000	5	Jashpur, Rajnandgaon,Kabeerdham, Raigarh, Raipur	27.8
low	<10,000	4	Korba,Sarguja, Narayanpur, Bijapur	22.2

Source: Calculated by Author

The above table shows the pattern of the distribution of Consumption Unit in the State. The first zone of very high consumption comprises of four districts namely Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur and Sarguja. There district are located in the Chhattisgarh Plain region which is fertile and all of these districts are rich in industries thereby attracting human resources and increasing the consumption units. They have high population concentration in both rural and urban area. In the second zone of high consumption there are five districts Janjgir-Champa, Rajnandgaon, Raigarh, Bastar and Korba. Where most of the districts fall in the industrial belt of colorizes and mines the population pressure is all but evident.In the third zone of moderate consumption there are five districts Mahasamund, Jashpur, Kabeerdham, Dhamtari and Kanker. These districts have very less urban population and fall under rain shadow area and forest zones. While in fourth zone of Low consumption there are four districts Koriya, Dantewara, Bijapur and Narayanpur. These districts have very dense forest cover and while the urban population is negligible the rural population is also sparsely scattered.

PATTERN OF PER HECTARE FOOD AVAILABILITY IN MONETARY VALUE:

Food Availability can be determined through many methods based on weight, standard nutritional unit, calories and value. In the present analysis the Per Hectare Food Availability is determined in Monetary. For this the entire Produce of the region is determined and converted into monetary value. The obtained figure is multiplied by Coefficient of Production (0.832) to avail the Net Availability of Food Crops in Monetary value. This value is divided by the Total Cropped Area of the region to obtain the per hectare food availability in monetary value.

The Table No.-2 shows the Per Hectare Food Availability in Monetary value of Chhattisgarh. The first zone of very high Availability comprises of four districts Janjgir-Champa, Dhamtari, Kanker and Mahasamund.

Pattern of food security in Monetary value in Chhattisgarhi

Table No.3 Chhattisgarh: Pattern of Food Security in Monetary Value

Class	Consumption unit range	No. of districts	Name of districts	% From the total
Secure	>5,250	4	Kanker, Dantewara, Dhamtari, Mahasamund	22.2
Moderately Secure	5,250 to 4,200	5	Janjgir-Champa, Jashpur, Kabeerdham, Rajnandgaon, Durg	27.8
Insecure	4,200 to 2,270	5	Bastar, Raigarh, Bilaspur, Koriya, Sarguja	27.8
Very Insecure	<2,270	4	Raipur, Narayanpur,Korba, Bijapur	22.2

Where Janjgir-Champa, Dhamtari and Mahasamund are a part of Upper Mahanadi Basin of Chhattisgarh Plain with slope less than one degree towards East, thus providing a flat terrain for agricultural activities. While Kanker district falls in a basin made by Mahanadi and its tributaries. The soil found is mostly the Red Sandy and Red Loamy with tracts of Red and Yellow and Black Soil. Due to the lack of other employment sources via industries agriculture has become the main source of livelihood for this region. The second zone of High Availability comprises of five districts Durg, Bastar, Dantewara, Bilaspur and Koriya. These districts are drained by Seonath, Indravati, Sabari, Arpa and Gopad respectively. These rivers along with their tributaries form a drainage network in the districts. These districts have a considerable share of both highlands and plains. Whereas the soil in this zone ranges from Deep Black to Lateritic and Red Loamy Soil. In the third zone of moderate Availability there are five district Jashpur, Rajnandgaon, Kabeerdham, Raigarh and Raipur; they are drained by Ib, Seonath and Mahanadi rivers along with their tributaries. The soil in this zone ranges from Deep Black to Shallow Black and Red Loamy to Red Yellow. While in fourth zone of Low Availability there are four districts Korba, Sarguja, Narayanpur and Bijapur. The prominent rivers of these districts are Ahiram, Rihand and Indravati which form a intense drainage network along with their tributaries. But these districts have a heavy forest cover with a rugged and elevated relief of plateaus and hills. The soil in this zone is mostly derivatives of Red soil with tracts of Black in Sarguja and Koriya.

REGIONAL PATTERN OF PER CAPITAPER ANNUM FOOD AVAILABILITY IN MONETARY VALUE:

For the determination of Food Security the Food Availability in Monetary Value was divided by Consumption Unit of respectively. The obtained result of Per Hectare Food Availability in Monetary Value was categorized into four zones of Food Security/ Insecurity. The first Secure zone comprises of four districts namely Kanker, Dantewara, Dhamtari and Mahasamund; it makes up 22.2% from the total districts. These districts have a low population pressure ranging from 59 to 236 person per sq.km. which is mainly rural (share of rural population-86%), thus the higher involvement in agricultural sector has led to Food Security. In the second Moderately Secure zone there are five districts Janjgir-Champa, Jashpur, Kabeerdham, Rajnandgaon and Durg, sharing 27.7% from the total districts. This zone comprises of districts rich in land resources and agriculturally significant but they whether under population pressure which ranges from 137 to 384 person per sq.km. In the third Insecure zone belong Bastar, Raigarh, Bilaspur, Koriya and Sarguja making up 27.7% from the total. This zone has intense population pressure ranging from 161 to 417 person per sq.km. Which under weights its internal agricultural production and makes it an Insecure zone of Food Security. The fourth Very Insecure zone comprises of four districts Raipur, Narayanpur, Korba and Bijapur which makes up 22.2% from the total districts has population pressure ranging from 21 to 302 person per sq.km. Where in Raipur and Korba the percent of urban population is high and being the state capital and industrial center respectively, the population pressure is very high which inspite of agricultural development in this region suppresses the Food Availability . The districts of Narayanpur and Bijapur are two newly formed underdeveloped district which have dense forest cover. The development is also hindered due to Naxilite activities in the region leading to Very Low level of Food Security.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

Thus, as seen above in the Levels regarding Consumption Units the districts in High Zone have high population concentration, may it be rural, urban. While the Food Availability is highest in the districts having plain terrain and river basins to facilitate agriculture. Whereas, the Food Security is Highest in the districts with comparatively low population pressure and High Food Availability. In the second level of each category; the Consumption units include districts which have the population pressure due to indulgence of industrial population. While the Food Availability Zone consists the districts having agricultural land lesser in area than the first category. For the Food Security the zone has under-populated districts with rich agriculture. In the third level, the districts in the zone of consumption unit have low population and forest coverage. The Food Availability is also lesser than the above zones while the soil fertility is also lesser. This is the Zone of Food Insecurity having intense population pressure ranging from 161 to 417 person per sq.km. and low Food Availability resulting in Insecure zone of Food Security. The fourth or last level has the lowest zones of each category. Heavy forest covered and sparsely populated districts form the zone for consumption Units. These districts have poor infrastructure and connectivity with rugged topography. Which leads to Low Food Availability due to predominance of plateaus and hills; with mostly Red soil. The Food Insecurity conditions in this zone is very poor; it consists not only the backward districts of Narayanpur and Bijapur but also the capital district of Raipur and the industrial district of Korba. The latter two districts have very high population pressure and comparatively low Food Availability; where the districts of Narayanpur and Bijapur have dense forest coverage and poor agricultural conditions.

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Received on 10.01.2014 Modified on 25.02.2014

Research J. Science and Tech. 6(1): Jan.-Mar. 2014; Page 01-05