GS Paper I 2023 · Q17
15 marks · 250 words Women, population, poverty & urbanisation X-Ray · Core #34From being net food importer in 1960s, India has emerged as a net food exporter to the world. Provide reasons.
Approach · directive: “provide reasons”
What it asks · Explain the policy, technology and institutional reasons that turned India from a food importer in the 1960s into a net agricultural exporter.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Provide reasons: technology, price support and institutions, public investment, diversification and trade policy behind India's shift from net food importer to net exporter
- Note: the caveats that temper the success, and the way forward
Open with · In the 1960s India depended on imported grain; by FY25 its agricultural exports reached USD 51.1 billion, the result of deliberate choices in technology, prices and institutions.
Cover
- Green Revolution: HYV wheat and rice seeds from the mid-1960s, with fertiliser and assured irrigation in the north-west.
- Price support: FCI and the Agricultural Prices Commission (1965), MSP and buffer stocks of wheat and rice.
- Public investment: research, extension, credit, electrification and irrigation carried technology to fields.
- White Revolution: Operation Flood; milk output up about twelve times (1951–2021); India first in the world in 2024-25.
- Trade: New Economic Policy 1991, export promotion and surplus stocks, with curbs when domestic prices rise.
- Caveats: depleted groundwater, low yields, small-farmer exclusion and persistent child stunting.
- Way forward: crop diversification, micro-irrigation, FPO-led export clusters.
Close with · The next shift is from surplus to sustainability: water-wise crops, shared export gains and nutrition security, the spirit of SDG 2 (zero hunger).
Add value (verified)
- APEDA (PIB release, 2024): India's agricultural exports reached USD 53.1 billion in 2022-23, with APEDA products contributing 51% of the total.APEDA catapults agricultural exports — PIB release hosted by APEDA ↗“In the fiscal period 2022-23, India's agricultural exports reached USD 53.1 billion, with APEDA contributing a significant 51% of India’s Agri-exports.”
- India's agricultural exports rose from USD 34.5 billion in FY20 to USD 51.1 billion in FY25.India's agriculture: growth and global role — PIB backgrounder (March 2026) ↗“Agricultural export earnings increased from USD 34.5 billion in FY20 to USD 51.1 billion in FY25, reflec1ng a CAGR of 8.2 percent.”
- India produced 247.87 million tonnes of milk in 2024-25 and ranks first in the world in total milk production (FAO).Dairy products — APEDA, Ministry of Commerce and Industry ↗“Total milk production in the country is 247.87 million tonnes during 2024-25. India ranks 1st in the world in terms of total milk production. (Source: FAO).”
- NFHS-6 (2023-24), released by MoHFW in May 2026: stunting among children under five fell from 35.5% (NFHS-5) to 29.3%.Union Health Ministry releases NFHS-6 findings — PIB, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ↗“Stunting among children under five years declined from 35.5% to 29.3% and severe wasting declined from 7.7% to 5.2%.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 16 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 340words · Minimalist IAS
In the 1960s India relied on imported grain to feed itself; by FY25 its agricultural exports had reached USD 51.1 billion. The turnaround came from deliberate choices in technology, prices and institutions.
- 1965: FCI and Agricultural Prices Commission
- Mid-1960s: HYV wheat and rice seeds
- 1991: New Economic Policy
- FY25: agri exports USD 51.1 billion
Technology: the Green Revolution
- HYV seeds: high-yielding wheat from Mexico and rice from the Philippines were available by the mid-1960s, and India adopted them quickly.
- Package approach: seeds came with fertiliser, pesticides and assured irrigation from tube-wells and canals, first in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
Price support and institutions
- Assured buyer: the Food Corporation of India and Agricultural Prices Commission, both of 1965, offered MSP and procurement, building buffer stocks of wheat and rice.
- Public investment: ICAR research, state agricultural universities, extension, rural credit and electrification carried new technology to the field.
Diversification
- White Revolution: Operation Flood pooled village milk through cooperatives; output rose about twelve times between 1951 and 2021, and India ranked first in the world with 247.87 million tonnes in 2024-25.
- Beyond cereals: horticulture, fisheries, poultry, spices and buffalo meat widened the export basket.
Opening to trade
- Reforms: the New Economic Policy of 1991 lowered barriers; APEDA and MPEDA promoted exports, while surplus stocks allowed sales abroad, with curbs whenever domestic prices rose.
Caveats
- Fragile base: groundwater and soils in the Green Revolution belt are depleting, and yields per hectare still trail world leaders.
- Uneven gains: small farmers capture little export value, and a grain surplus coexists with 29.3% child stunting (NFHS-6, 2023-24).
Way forward
- Crops that follow water: shift incentives from paddy towards millets and pulses in water-stressed districts.
- Efficiency: micro-irrigation under PMKSY's Per Drop More Crop and soil-health-based fertiliser use.
- Farmer share: farmer producer organisations, export clusters and cold chains to link small growers with global buyers.
India's next shift must be from surplus to sustainability: crops suited to water, exports that reward the small farmer, and food security that means nutrition, the promise of SDG 2 (zero hunger).
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 16 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
