India is harvesting more food per person than ever in its history, a staggering 3-4% annual rise in per capita production. Yet one in every three children is still stunted and millions remain anaemic, trapped in a food system that piles calories on plates but starves them of real nutrition.

Speaking at the Delhi School of Economics Public Policy Conference on Wednesday, NITI Aayog member Professor Ramesh Chand warned that record per capita food production, which is rising between 3% to 4% annually, is not translating into better health outcomes for Indians, especially children.

“If it is not translating into improved nutrition and improved health, then I will not call it a transformation,” he said during his address as Chair of the keynote talk titled Transforming Indian Agriculture.

“We have achieved something historic,” Professor Chand told the auditorium. “Our per capita food production is rising by three to four percent every year. I have published this in many places. This is a big thing, per capita food production rising so rapidly.”

“But is it translating in terms of improved nutrition? Is it translating in terms of improved health? If not, then I will not call it a transformation,” he added.

The Cereal Trap: Full Stomachs, Empty Nutrition

Professor Chand pointed out that India’s food system remains stubbornly cereal-heavy while states announce fresh bonuses on paddy even when the country is drowning in 25-30 percent surplus rice.

The result? Warehouses overflow with rice and wheat, FCI sells surplus grains at half the cost for ethanol, yet pulses, milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables which are the real sources of protein and micronutrients, remain expensive or unavailable for most households.

“We are producing more food per person than ever before,” he said, “but if it is not translating into better health outcomes, especially for children, then this cannot be called true transformation.”

Time to Make Agriculture Nutrition-Sensitive

The NITI Aayog member urged policymakers and researchers to expand the very definition of agricultural transformation beyond output and income growth.

“Let us transform our food system so that it becomes more healthy, so that it is more nutrition-sensitive,” he said, adding that health and food security must now rank alongside growth, gender, youth and sustainability as core motivations for reform.