Main Points to Highlight : Freedomfivm hunger and malnutrition presupposes availability of food-grains at reasonable rates all over the country. The present availability of food grain in the country is 38 gms per person per c1,61.,% which is very low. India is an agricultural country and the monsoon plays a very vital role here. We had nine successive good monsoons over the past years. India is still a country of malnourished people and self sufficiency in food-grains is still a far cry. The rapid increase in population has outpaced our food-production growth and there is an urgent need of a new thrust of food production. We need more and more technology and research in agriculture. Besides food-production, there are other problems like distribution, storage, subsidies etc. to be tackled. 

Food is one of the basic human needs. It is the chief means of subsistence. Therefore, agricultural development is as important as industrial development. They are interrelated and interdependent. Development means providing means of sustenance to the people. Adequate availability of food-grains at reasonable prices ensures freedom from hunger and malnutrition. Availability and entitlement of food both are important. Food should be within the easy reach of the masses. India's population is increasing at the rate of over 2 percent per annum. Therefore, the production of food-grains, procurement, storage, distribution and timely movement to the deficient regions are to be given top priority. The per capita availability of food-grains in India is nearly 463 grams per day. 

India is basically an agricultural Country and in this sector monsoon plays an important role. The south-west monsoon starts in June and lasts till October and causes rains in various parts of the country in various degrees. Rains play a vital role in agriculture. The kharif crop depends chiefly on the south-west monsoon and the rabi crop on north-east monsoon which blows from November to May. It brings rain mainly to the peninsular India and here the main crop is paddy.