Food security situation better this year claims government

New Delhi, Apr 27 (UNI) The Government today asserted that there was no serious threat to food security and the country had a stock of 190 lakh tonnes of food grains in the begining of April 2007 compared to 162 lakh tonnes the previous year.

Answering Mr Eknath Thakur and other members, Minister of State for Agriculture Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Kantilal Bhuria said in his written answer in the Rajya Sabha that in the long term plan to ensure food security in the country there were several schemes to reach out the food at subsidised rates to Above Poverty Line/Below Poverty Line and Antyodaya Anna Yojana under Targetted Public Distribution System.

The ministers said Indian food security system was acknowledged as one of the largest in the world and the advance estimates for 2006-07 was put at 211 millon tonnes.

He said the production during 2006-07 in wheat, jowar, bajra and pulses had increased marginally barring rice which had registered a fall.

Touching upon rehabilitation package for six districts of Maharashtra, Mr Bhuria said the government had sanctioned a package of Rs 3,873 crore including debt relief to farmers and around Rs 1,296 crore of overdue loan amounts of farmers as on June 30 2006 in identified districts of Vidarbha region.

To a question on the extent of cultivable land, Mr Bhuria said there was a marginal decline in cultivable land in the country. The area which was around 185.0-9 million hectares in 1980-81 had been reduced to 183.09 million hectares basically duye to increase in the population and diversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes luke urbanisation, roads and industries. The decrease of cultivable land was witnessed in 11 states including Andhra Pradesh, Asom, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

UNI