Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday said that there is a production gap (in rice) due to less sowing by about 61 lakh hectares and it has to be compensated.
On the sidelines of a seminar, he admitted that this possibility is in the Rabi and summer crops and the government is working very hard (towards that end).
The two-day seminar, starting today, is being conducted to form strategy for the coming Rabi season in consultation with states to compensate against the losses in many crops due to drought during the Kharif season.
The government today said areas under wheat, pulses, oilseeds and some coarse cereals will go up in the Rabi season and resolved to make up for losses of summer-sown crops due to drought in about half the country.
"The coverage of wheat, oilseeds, pulses and some oilseeds will definitely go up. Only paddy crop will come in limited areas," Pawar said here.
Though the minister maintained that the actual decline in the output of rice, the worst-hit crop in the Kharif, is yet to be ascertained, he has directed states to raise the coverage of boro paddy to compensate against the losses.
"The exact figures will emerge later but without waiting for the production figures, it is important for us to plan and take compensatory steps...by careful and judicious planning of the Rabi season," he said.
To raise areas under crops, the Centre has drawn up a strategy for the Rabi that comprises timely availability of loans, adequate seeds and fertilisers to farmers.
First Published: Thursday, September 24, 2009, 17:42