Population, Environment And Food Security

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In demographic projection it is estimated that the world popu- lation will reach 10 to 12 billion by the year 2050 A.D. while the long term sustainable carrying capacity of earth for just an adequate standard of living will be around 2 to 3 billion. Pro- fessor M. S. Swaminathan in his Abha Maity Memorial Lec- ture delivered at the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, on 25th Au- gust, 1998, attempted to resolve the increasing tension between the two irreconcilable trends.

There is no doubt that the present day world is getting polarised in demographic and economic terms. Most of the underdeveloped and developing countries having high rate of population growth are sharing less resources with a consequen- tial sustained poverty. On the other hand a minor section of the world population is enjoying a larger share of world re- sources with relatively lesser population. This has resulted in wide disparity which has led to hazardous health conditions of the people of underdeveloped and developing countries manifested through malnutrition and anaemia among preg- nant women leading to birth risk, low birth weight, twisted brain development. As intellectual property is gradually be- coming the most important asset in the world, children born in less developing countries like India and South Asian coun- tries are sure to be deprived of the opportunities for their full expression of the innate genetic potential for mental and ge- netic development.