Nutritional Transition in India

Nutritional transition is change in pattern of food consumption of population over a period of time. This can be affected by the geography, climatic conditions, rainfall, availability of resources, technological improvements and economic considerations.

In 1950’s  India was not self-sufficient in food grain production. India got grains from US under PL480 scheme to feed its hungry population.  At that time the main diet of the Indians were mainly coarse grains like millet, barley etc.  Consumption pattern of people largely depended on the local produce.

 In 1970’s India witnessed green revolution in food grain production because of better scientific agricultural methods, better irrigation facilities and better fertilizers. And our consumption gradually shifted from coarse grains to fine grains like rice and wheat. Economically majority of Indians were not well off. Poverty rate was hovering around 50%. Therefore, diet of Indians was mainly carbohydrate rich, as carbohydrate rich food is cheaper than protein or fat rich food.

 With liberalization in 1990’s our economy has improved and our middle class has burgeoned, population of poor’s has decreased by nearly 20% and with the social initiatives taken by government in recent years like MNERGA has increased the rural wealth. The purchasing power of Indian middle class and rural population has increased in last 20 years.  Now more and more Indians are eating protein and fat rich diet like pulses, meat, eggs, milk, milk products etc. Consequently, consumption pattern of India is shifting from carbohydrate rich diet to protein rich diet.  This poses a problem for policy makers of the country. Currently India is not self-sufficient in production of pulses. With increasing demand for pulses, which is a major component for dietary protein, our trade deficit will increase.

To tackle this problem, we require a second green revolution, good diplomatic relations with countries from which we import pulses and legumes e.g. Myanmar.