The Economy of Permanence: A Quest for a Social Order Based on Non-violence (स्थायी अर्थतन्त्र)

Economy of Permanence
sufficient numbers as to fully meet our demand in this respect and the best of
land, which is under sugarcane today, can be utilized for the production of
cereals, fruits and vegetables that the country needs so badly.
The first thing is to start with a balanced diet. In India we have people living on
cereals only, and cereals do not provide all that is necessary for the body in a
compact form. If we can arrange our cultivation, so that every village cultivates
what is necessary for a balanced diet, w can easily secure a balanced diet. In
that way we can work out the acreage that is necessary for a particular type of
food.
It is ordinarily presumed that an acre of land provides more calories through
the production of grains than through any other food. But, apart from the
question of calories, the grains are very poor suppliers of protective food
factors. Therefore if we aim at getting these factors from cereals only huge
quantities of grains will be required. On the other hand, if the grains are
substituted and supplemented by foods like fruits and vegetables, milk and its
products, gur, nuts and oilseeds, etc., the protective food factors required to
make up a balanced diet may be obtained through lesser quantities of these
types of food than through grains alone. Even the supply of calories per acre is
greater in the case of gur and of the root vegetables like potato than in the
case of cereal grains. Thus, a balanced diet may be a double blessing and may
offer the solution to our problem. It reduces the per capita requirement of land
and at the same time, it supplies the body with all its requirements in their
correct proportions so as to keep it fit and healthy. It is calculated that the per
capita land available in India at present for food cultivation comes to about 0.7
acres. This very land which is found to be too inadequate to meet our
requirements in food according to the present distribution of cultivation
becomes sufficient in the re-ordered system of agriculture. In this manner the
land of the locality should be so distributed for the purpose of growing crops as
to provide its population with all the needed materials for a balanced diet,
clothing and all primary necessities. This aspect of the question when
thoroughly investigated and a definite plan chalked out should be enforced by
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