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Abstract
This study explored historical food availability/supply and the market demand for food. Secondary data was used for
analyzing demand-supply gap. The average growth in rice production was 2.9% per year in 1971/72 to 2008/09, of
which 93% was contributed by yield growth. The overall growth rate of area under food grain was 0.3% in 1971/72 to
2008/09. The overall food grain production growth rate is higher than population growth rate from 1971/72 to 2008/09.
The own price and income elasticities of rice were -0.108 and 0.199 respectively. It was projected that upto 2021, the
annual demand for food exceed the supply of food which were -0.28% for rice and -1.76% for wheat. That implies the
demands are greater than the supplies for both crops.