According to the 2011 census, farm families constitute the majority of India's population. A high proportion of marginal farm families as well as landless labour families suffer from under-nutrition or lack of nutrition, because of inadequate income. Thus, we have to deal with three kinds of hunger if we are to achieve food and nutrition security for all.

First, we have to help farm families overcome under-nutrition as a result of calorie deprivation. This can be achieved through the National Food Security Act. Second, protein hunger is becoming serious due to the inadequate consumption of pulses and milk (in the case of vegetarians) and eggs, fish and meat (in the case of non-vegetarians). Third, there is widespread hidden hunger, caused by the deficiency of micro-nutrients such as iron, iodine, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B12, among others in the diet.

The nutri-farm initiative for which a provision of 200 crore has been provided in the budget of 2013–14 is designed to give concurrent attention to the three major problems mentioned above. About 100 high malnutrition burden districts have been selected for starting this project during kharif this year. Since neither the ICAR nor agricultural universities seem to be involved in this exercise, I suggest that in each of the 100 districts chosen, a technical advisory committee (TAC) be constituted, consisting of appropriate experts in agronomy, agro-meteorology, farming systems design and nutrition. Nutrition experts from home science colleges will be helpful in identifying major nutritional maladies prevailing in the area.

The TAC could also suggest how to achieve convergence and synergy among ongoing programmes like the National Food Security and Horticulture Missions, Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. Such convergence will be very helpful in maximizing the benefits and impact of all these programmes.

For ensuring the success of the nutri-farm programme, a nutritional literacy movement needs to be launched in the chosen districts. For this purpose, it will be useful to request panchayats to nominate one woman and one man to be trained as community hunger fighters who will familiarize the village community with the nutritional maladies prevailing in the area. Thus, they will enable farm families to overcome nutritional maladies through the appropriate introduction of agricultural remedies in the prevailing farming system.