SUSTAINABILITY OF FOOD SYSTEMS IN PUNJAB: MEASUREMENT AND EMERGING TRENDS
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Date
2012
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Publisher
PAU
Abstract
The present study was conducted to review various indicators for measuring
sustainability for simultaneous comparison on spatial as well as temporal basis and to ensure
future sustainability of food systems in Punjab. Secondary data on various variables were
collected for each district of Punjab state from 1970-71 to 2009-10. In order to measure the
quantum of sustainability, methodology proposed by Iyenger and Sudharshan (1982) was
used to develop the indices. Sustainability indices and each component of sustainability such
as availability, access and utilization was distributed to five classes on the basis of indices
values ranging from 0 to 0.4915, 0.4915 to 0.537, 0.537 to 0.576, 0.576 to 0.620 and 0.620 to
1.00 as the least, less, moderate, high and higher sustainability respectively. The study
indicated that Punjab started as a least sustainable state in 1970-71 and ended up as higher
sustainable state in 2009-10, however, stagnation in sustainability index is seen in the last few
years mainly because of decline in the access component. The growth in sustainability index
over the whole period is calculated as 0.83 percent but the high coefficient of variation
showing a large inconsistency. The growth over the whole period in the availability is
calculated as 0.84 percent with coefficient of variation as 10.04, which is very high showing a
large inconsistency. The growth over the whole period in access of food in Punjab is
calculated as 0.62 per cent which shows a significant positive change in access. For the
measurement of utilization of food in Punjab, only one variable, literacy rate was taken which
cannot give clear picture of utilization in the state. The trend in sustainability of food has not
been uniform in all the districts of Punjab. The trend in availability index was also not of
uniform nature and it varied across the districts of Punjab. Punjab showed comparatively
different trend in access component with many ups and downs in the access component and it
followed a cyclic trend throughout the whole study period. Most of the districts which were
formed in nineties were having higher growth rates in access to food than the other districts of
Description
Keywords
biological development,, productivity