Production boost required to achieve food security: Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi, July 10 (ANI): Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said the Central Government will pass a legislation to provide subsidised wheat and rice to the poorer sections of society, adding that its success would depend on strengthening the delivery system and boosting production.

"We are committed to ensure Food Security Act and to make successful, we need to produce more, procure more and strengthen delivery mechanism for making accessible and affordable," said Mukherjee at a conference on extending Green Revolution to the eastern parts of the country.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre has promised to enact a National Food Security Act, under which it promises to provide 25 kilogram of food grains every month at Rs 3/kg to families living below the poverty line.

The National Advisory Council headed by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, which is looking into the various aspects of the draft food security bill, will advise the Government on the issue.

The issues under discussion include raising the number of beneficiaries as well as the quantity.

Mukherjee further said there would be no scarcity of funds for the agriculture sector especially in the context of strategic initiatives for food security in the country.

He said that Rs 400 crore allocated for extending the Green Revolution in six eastern states was not enough.

Mukherjee had announced a proposal for providing Rs 400 crore under the 'Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana' while presenting the 2010 Budget for extending green revolution to the eastern region of the country comprising Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal.

The Green revolution foresees the adoption of new seed varieties, farm machines, nutrients, pesticides and knowledge based intervention as developed for different agro- climatic zones to achieve the objective of increasing productivity and production. (ANI)