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Synopsis The book Agriculture and Food Security: Contemporary Issues contains thirty chapters elaborating on various aspects of agricultural issues and its impact on food security. Articles in this book are organized in then following sections: Section A-discuss the issues related to structural reforms and its impact on agricultural growth, Section B-analyses allied agricultural activities with regional perspectives, Section C-discusses agricultural credit and policy issues, and Section D- describes the issues related to food security.

The agricultural development strategy of the Ninth Five Year Plan is essentially based on the policy on food security announced by the Government, to double the food production and make India hunger free in ten years. The Strategy to ensure food security is as follows:

Doubling food production, Increase in employment and incomes, Supplementary/sustained employment and creation of rural infrastructure through Poverty Alleviation Programmes (PAP), Distribution of foodgrains to the people Below Poverty Line (BPL).

There is a need to focus more on poverty alleviation programmes and employment generation schemes. There is no denying the fact that even more than six decades after independence, food insecurity and starvation are big blots on the face of mother India which is moving on the path of achieving the goal of status of the developed country. This could be attributed to failure of our governance and developmental approach. It is contrary to the committed objective of welfare state and inclusive growth. Some Government programmes like as MFSM, RKVY, NHM and ATMA are very useful for farmers, and farmers will be benefited, if these programmes are properly monitored and effectively implemented under the right policies.