13.2 India: how human and physical factors combine to cause food insecurity Flashcards
Describe rapid population growth:
17 million extra people per year
Describe the natural environments in India:
Mountains, deserts, grasslands, tropical and temperate forests
What are the three major ecological zones in India:
- Himalayan mountains in the north
- Indo-Gangetic Plain in the centre
- Peninsular Plateau in the south
What is the decline in food production mainly due to?
Poor wheat harvests
Where in the world does India rank for wheat and rice production?
Second highest in the world
What proportion of world’s hungry are found in India?
One-third
What are the threats to food security in India:
- Unreliable weather patterns
- Increased frequency of droughts and floods
- Declining water table
- Increased soil erosion
- Urbanisation reducing land availability
- Green Revolution having adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts
- Inefficient infrastructure led to waste
- Small-scale farmers disadvantaged by globalisation
Describe the Punjab region:
In the northwest
Occupies less than 2% of the land area
Produces two-thirds of food grains
Used to be known as ‘the bread basket of India’
What are the physical challenges facing India’s food security?
- Water shortages
- Increased temperatures
- Soil erosion
Describe Punjab’s climate:
Semi-arid
630 mm per year
21 degrees average temperature
Describe Punjab’s seasons:
- Hot season (April – June)
- Rainy season, 70% of rainfall (July – September)
- Cold season (October to March)
Water shortages: what has caused frequent droughts?
Unreliable monsoon rains in the past 16 years
Water shortages: what have farmers done to compensate for droughts?
Drawn more groundwater for crop irrigation = accelerated decline in the water table
Water shortages: what % of groundwater supplies are over-exploited?
80%
Water shortages: consequence of water shortages on farmers?
Expensive equipment must be purchased to drill to huge depths leading to financial stress = high suicide rates among farmers
Increased temperatures: what is the impact on crops?
Crops have reached their maximum heat tolerance leading to decrease crop yields
Increased temperatures: what extreme weather event has exacerbated water table drop?
Droughts
Soil erosion: characteristics of rainfall
Intense and heavy
Soil erosion: consequence of intense and heavy rainfall
Little infiltration due to hard baked earth and high levels of overland flow leading to erison of fertile upper layers of the soil
Soil erosion: what % of rainfall is lost to run-off?
40%
What % of land degradation is due to water and wind erosion?
78%
What are the human challenges facing India’s food security?
- The Green Revolution
- Government Policy
- Impact of globalisation
Green revolution: what was the aim?
To make India self-sufficient in food grains and to reduce the dependency on imports
Green Revolution: what was introduced in 1960s?
High yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice and wheat