(a) Explain the factors that contribute to droughts in India with specific reference to food production, distribution and…

(a) Drought and food security

Drought in India is not merely a rainfall event; it is a cascade from meteorological deficit to hydrological stress and agricultural failure. Roughly two-thirds of India's net sown area is rainfed and vulnerable to drought; drought-prone zones include Rajasthan (Thar margins), Maharashtra (Marathwada), Karnataka (north interior) and Odisha (western districts). Meteorological drought arises from monsoon variability, El Niño years that often weaken convective rainfall, and negative Indian Ocean Dipole phases associated with deficient rainfall, while positive IOD can offset some El Niño effects. Hydrological drought follows when reservoirs and groundwater are depleted, and agricultural drought appears when soil moisture and crop water availability fall below requirements. A weak monsoon therefore converts a meteorological shock into a food-security crisis. This directly reduces food production through yield decline, crop failure, fodder shortage and livestock loss. It also strains distribution: FCI buffer stocks, which also feed free grains to about 81 crore NFSA beneficiaries under PMGKAY, face pressure, PDS supply chains become uneven, and storage and transport gaps widen. Availability is affected by price volatility, reduced purchasing power and poorer nutritional access among small farmers and landless labourers. Indian agricultural policies cannot fully resolve the issue by themselves. MGNREGA (now succeeded by the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025) provides wage support and can build water assets, but its impact is limited unless tied to watershed planning. PMFBY reduces risk, yet area-yield assessment, low coverage of tenant farmers and delayed claim settlement weaken protection (the weather-index RWBCIS covers only a small share). PMKSY can improve irrigation, but if it deepens groundwater extraction it may worsen long-term vulnerability. MSP and input subsidies support income, but they can encourage water-intensive crops and inefficient water use. A durable answer requires drought-proofing: watershed development, crop diversification, micro-irrigation, water pricing, better crop insurance and market reforms.

(b) Desertification and regional issues

Desertification is land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, driven by climate aridity, rainfall variability and human pressure. Overgrazing, deforestation, over-cultivation and unsustainable irrigation remove vegetation, expose soil and accelerate erosion. ISRO's Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas (2021) found about 97.85 million hectares, nearly 30% of India's area, degraded in 2018–19, with water erosion the leading process and Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Ladakh and Jharkhand the most affected. Consequences include soil fertility loss, reduced productivity, biodiversity decline, water scarcity, poverty, forced migration and reduced carrying capacity. Regionally, the Thar Desert in Rajasthan shows expansion due to low rainfall, overgrazing and vegetation loss. In the Chambal and Yamuna basins, ravine degradation is severe where runoff, deforestation and over-cultivation cut the dry sub-humid landscape; seasonal streams cut deep gullies, making plots unusable. In Punjab and Haryana, over-irrigation and poor drainage cause salinization and waterlogging; in Kachchh and coastal Saurashtra, seawater ingress salinises aquifers; and the cold desert of Ladakh suffers wind erosion and degradation of fragile pastures. Lateritic degradation in Karnataka and Kerala is a related land-degradation issue; in dry sub-humid laterite tracts it reinforces desertification-like losses, while in humid Western Ghats fringes it is better treated as land degradation rather than desertification. Responses include the Desert Development Programme and watershed schemes under PMKSY, the Green India Mission, the Aravalli Green Wall project (2023) and India's pledge to restore 26 million hectares by 2030.

(c) Blue Economy validity and development impacts

India’s Blue Economy is valid because the country has an 11,098 km coastline (2023 recount), an EEZ of about 2.02 million sq km, is the world's third-largest fish producer and second in aquaculture, and has fisheries, ports and seabed resources. Port clusters concentrate along the east and west coasts. SAGAR (2015, broadened to MAHASAGAR in 2025), the draft Blue Economy policy framework (2021), Sagarmala, O-SMART and the Deep Ocean Mission (with the Samudrayaan crewed submersible Matsya-6000) aim to link aquaculture, port-led development, marine research and deep-sea exploration. PMMSY can strengthen fisheries and aquaculture, while the Deep Ocean Mission targets seabed minerals. Sagarmala can lower logistics costs and create port-city clusters. Their economic impacts can be significant: higher fisheries and aquaculture output, better ports and logistics, marine manufacturing, and, under the Deep Ocean Mission, exploration of polymetallic nodules and non-fuel seabed minerals. Socially, they can create coastal employment, strengthen food security and improve livelihoods. However, environmental trade-offs are real: coastal erosion, marine pollution, habitat loss, overfishing and conflicts over space. Climate resilience can be enhanced through mangroves and blue carbon, but only if coastal regulation is enforced and fishing communities participate. The validity of the Blue Economy therefore depends on implementation: it is a development pathway if it balances growth with ecological limits, community rights and integrated land-ocean governance.