UPSC Prelims 2016·CSAT·Reading Comprehension·Passage Comprehension

Historically, the biggest Challenge to world agriculture has been to achieve a balance between demand for and supply of food. At the level of individual countries, the demand-supply balance can be a critical issue for a closed economy, especially if it is a populous economy and its domestic agriculture is not growing sufficiently enough to ensure food supplies, on an enduring basis; it is not so much and not always, of a constraint for an open, and growing economy, which has adequate exchange surpluses to buy food abroad. For the world as a whole, Supply-demand balance is always an inescapable prerequisite for warding off hunger and starvation. However, global availability of adequate supply does not necessarily mean that food would automatically move from countries of surplus to of deficit if the latter lack in purchasing power. The uneven distribution of Inoger, starvation, under or malnourishment, etc., at the world-level, thus owes itself to the presence of empty-pock hungry mouths, overwhelmingly confined to the underdeveloped economies. Inasmuch as 'a two-square meal' is of elemental significance to basic human existence, the issue of worldwide supply' of food has been gaining significance, in recent times, both because the quantum and the composition of demand has been undergoing big changes, and because, in recent years, the capabilities individual countries to generate uninterrupted chain of food supplies have come under strain. Food production, marketing and prices, especially price-affordability by the poor in the developing world, have become global issues that need global thinking and global solutions. According to the above passage, which of the following are the fundamental solutions for the world food security problem? 1. Setting up more agro-based industries 2. Improving the price affordability by the poor 3. Regulating the conditions of marketing 4. Providing food subsidy to one and all Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Dalvoy logo
Reviewed by Dalvoy
UPSC Civil Services preparation
Last updated 23 May 2026, 3:31 pm IST
  1. A1 and 2 only
  2. B2 and 3 onlyCorrect
  3. C1, 3 and 4 only
  4. D1, 2, 3 and 4

Explanation

The passage emphasizes that mere production is not enough — affordability and stable marketing/supply are the real bottlenecks for world food security. 1. Setting up more agro-based industries — Not discussed in the passage. The passage focuses on demand-supply balance, affordability and supply-chain stability, not on industry setup. Incorrect. 2. Improving the price affordability by the poor — The passage explicitly cites "lack in purchasing power," "empty-pocketed hungry mouths," and "price-affordability by the poor in the developing world" as central global issues. Correct. 3. Regulating the conditions of marketing — The passage states that "Food production, marketing and prices… have become global issues that need global thinking and global solutions," pointing to regulation of marketing conditions as a fundamental solution. Correct. 4. Providing food subsidy to one and all — The passage never advocates a universal subsidy; it stresses affordability for the poor, not blanket subsidies for everyone. Incorrect. Hence only statements 2 and 3 are correct. Answer: B.
Reading Comprehension: Historically, the biggest Challenge to world agriculture has been to achieve a balance between demand for and supply of

Related questions

More UPSC Prelims practice from the same subject and topic.