One of the major issues concerning India is the persistent problem of malnutrition, particularly among children and women. Over the several decades of planned development, many different programmes and schemes have been put in place to tackle the problem of malnutrition across different age groups of population, and focusing on infancy, childhood, adolescence and women in their reproductive years. In spite of various efforts, including rapid advances made in food production, malnutrition persists in India at unacceptable levels. Stunting, wasting and underweight among children and anaemia and chronic energy deficiency among women remain key public health challenges in India. The prevalence of malnutrition in India has accompanied a reduction in diversity of food crop production over the years. There has been a tendency towards cereal-dominant farming systems of rice and wheat, with a decline in production of a variety of millets and pulses over time, in the country.