(a) How do agro-climatic and land capability indicators assist in macro-agricultural regionalisation of India ? Illustrate with…

(a) Agro-climatic and land capability indicators in regionalisation

India’s macro-agricultural regionalisation is a spatial ordering of climate, soils and production potential. The Planning Commission’s exercise used Thornthwaite and Trewartha climate classifications, rainfall variability, thermal regimes and length of growing period, together with ICAR land capability classes I–VIII based on soil depth, texture, drainage, slope and erosion status. These indicators were integrated into the Planning Commission’s 15 agro-climatic regions (1989), while NBSS&LUP drew 20 agro-ecological regions from soils, physiography and growing period, and ICAR’s National Agricultural Research Project used 127 agro-climatic zones. They assist planning by matching crops, irrigation, soil conservation, credit and extension to biophysical potential: classes I–III suit intensive cereals, IV–VI need conservation, VII–VIII are mainly forestry or pastoral.

On the map the regions are: Western Himalayan across J&K, Himachal and Uttarakhand; Eastern Himalayan in Sikkim, Darjeeling and NE; Lower Gangetic in West Bengal; Middle Gangetic across Bihar and eastern UP; Upper Gangetic in western and central UP; Trans-Gangetic in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and northern Rajasthan; Eastern Plateau in Odisha, Jharkhand and WB; Central Plateau in MP, eastern Rajasthan and Bundelkhand (UP); Western Plateau in Maharashtra and western MP; Southern Plateau in AP, Telangana, Karnataka and TN; Eastern Coastal Plains along Odisha and AP; Western Coastal Plains along Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra; Gujarat Plains in Saurashtra-Kathiawar and Kutch; Western Dry in arid western Rajasthan; Island in Andaman-Nicobar and Lakshadweep. The map shows monsoon gradient, soil and slope constraints, and explains cropping patterns: irrigated wheat-rice in Upper Gangetic, paddy in Eastern Coastal, millets in Western Dry, plantation in Western Coastal and Eastern Himalayan, horticulture in Western Himalayan, rice-soybean in Eastern Plateau, groundnut-cotton-pulses in Southern Plateau.

(b) Quad, the Indo-Pacific and marine trade

Quad’s significance lies in the maritime geography of the Indo-Pacific, where about 60% of global maritime trade moves through Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs). India, US, Japan and Australia provide a maritime balancing architecture around chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait, through which roughly 80% of China’s oil imports pass, and the Lombok Strait and Makassar Strait as alternative routes. By enhancing maritime domain awareness, interoperability, disaster response and Quad Plus partnerships, including Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiatives, the Quad helps secure container traffic, rare-earth supply chains and semiconductor logistics. It is widely read as a response to China’s growing naval and port presence, though Quad statements name no country. The 2024 Wilmington summit added a Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission, a Ports of the Future Partnership and the MAITRI training initiative for regional maritime agencies. India’s ports, naval presence and partnerships with ASEAN, Japan and Australia strengthen SLOC security, while Quad Plus with New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam widens maritime connectivity. India’s role is distinctive: it does not conduct group Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs), but supports freedom of navigation principles and individual state operations, while offering a non-aligned, rules-based maritime public good.

(c) The National Food Security Act, 2013 and access to food

NFSA 2013 converts food access into a legal entitlement: 5 kg per person per month (35 kg per Antyodaya household) of rice, wheat or coarse cereals at ₹3, ₹2 and ₹1, free of cost since January 2023 under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, covering up to 75% rural and 50% urban populations (about 81 crore people), with maternity benefit not less than ₹6,000 and mid-day meals for children aged 6–14. It expanded PDS, made women the primary ration card holder, and through One Nation One Ration Card enabled portability. It has protected cereal consumption of poor households and stabilised it during price shocks and the COVID-19 lockdowns, supported by FCI buffer stocks. Yet evaluation must be critical. Exclusion errors persist due to Aadhaar seeding and BPL data gaps; leakages and diversion, estimated by an ICRIER study at about 28% of PDS grain in 2022–23, weaken targeting; the cereal-centric basket limits nutritional diversity; climate shocks to kharif/rabi production threaten supply; and fiscal burden on states constrains implementation. On balance, NFSA has secured calorie access for most of the poor, while nutrition and targeting remain its weak points.