ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE : HUMAN POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT 229
herbivore level. If people in the developed world were to reduce their animal protein intake,
they would significantly reduce their demands on world resources.
The current situation with respect to world food production and hunger is very
complicated. It involves the resources needed to produce food, such as arable land, labour
and machines, appropriate crop selection, and economic incentives. It also involves the mal-
distribution of food within countries. This is often an economic problem, since the poorest
in most countries have difficulty finding the basic necessities of life, while the richer have
an excess of food and other resources. Improved plant varieties, irrigation and improved
agricultural methods have dramatically increased food production in some parts of the
world. In recent years, India, China and much of southern Asia have moved from being food
importers to being self-sufficient, and in some cases food exporters.
Population trends in India
India accounts for nearly. 1.5 per cent of the world population. Population has undergone
an approximately three-fold increase during the last 80 years. According to the census of
1901, there were 235,396,327 people in this country. The number slightly came down in
1921 as a result of some epidemics. In ‘1951, the population was 361,008,0,90, which went
up to 439,234,771 and 548,159,652 in 1961 and 1971, respectively. The main reason for the
rapid growth is fall in death rate as a result of better medical care. The sex ratio in India’
in 1981 was 1071 males per 1000 females. In Punjab in 1981, there were 1138 males per
1000 females whereas the number of males to females in Kerala was 969: 1000. The age
ratio of Indian population shows that there is high proportion of young people belonging to
the pre-reproductive age group i.e. 42.2 per cent in the age group of 0-14 years.
Table 7.4: Population estimates for some of the states in India (1991)S.No. State/Union territory Population- Uttar Pradesh 1,38,760,417
- Bihar 86,338,853
- Maharashtra 78,706,719
- West Bengal 67,982,732
- Andhra Pradesh 66,304,854
- Madhya Pradesh 66,135,862
- Tamil Nadu 55,638,318
- Karnataka 44,817,398
- Rajasthan 43,880,640
- Gujarat 41,174,060
- Orissa 31 ,512,070
- Kerala 29,011,237
- Assam 22,294,562
- Punjab 20,190,795
- Haryana 16,317,715
- Delhi 9,370,475