Revision summary
The mid-1960s droughts forced concessional wheat imports. HYV wheat and rice, irrigation, and fertiliser created a grain surplus in north-west India and then beyond. CACP, MSP, and FCI turned surplus into stocks that could be eaten or sold abroad. Milk, horticulture, marine products, and meat widened the export basket after 1991. Net exporter status is real for many years, with nutrition and groundwater as unfinished costs.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD D[1960s drought PL-480] --> G[Green Revolution HYV] G --> I[Irrigation fertiliser] I --> S[MSP FCI stocks] S --> E[Net export rice sugar marine] O[Operation Flood horticulture] --> E
Conclusion
- Shift surplus toward pulses, oilseeds, and climate-resilient millets so export and nutrition are not only a rice–wheat story.
- Use the National Food Security Act, 2013, stocks for the poor first, then export the residual.
India moved from 1960s grain ships to net food export because HYV seed, water, MSP–FCI stocks, and later trade opened a surplus. The way forward is to keep that surplus without exhausting aquifers or ignoring protein and oilseed gaps.
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Students also ask
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Does urbanization lead to more segregation and/or marginalization of the poor in Indian metropolises?
Next question in the 2023 paper (Q18). View answer →
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Is India a net food exporter every year?
In many recent years yes, especially in rice. Drought or export bans can reverse a single-year balance.
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Did liberalisation alone create the surplus?
No. HYV, irrigation, and procurement created the grain. Open trade later helped sell it.
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