Kerala CM calls for self-sufficiency in producing food grains

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], April 22 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that the state would need big interventions in the agricultural sector to remain self-sufficient in food grain production, in case of the prevailing circumstances due to the pandemic outbreak continuing for a long period.
He said that Kerala is dependent on other States for meeting its demand for food grains, fruits and vegetables.

"We have enough food stocks available for now and we are in a comfortable situation but if the current circumstances due to the pandemic outbreak continue for long, we would have to start preparing for the future and would need big interventions in the agriculture sector," Vijayan said in a statement.
He mentioned that the agriculture department in association with local self-government bodies is planning big projects to improve the State's self-reliance. "We should explore all possible ways to improve our vegetable cultivation using kitchen gardens, rooftop cultivation and community projects by making the best use of the available agriculture land in the State," he said.

Stressing that state needs to adopt modern farming techniques and practices to have maximum produce from the minimum area, he said: "The State needs to increase the rice cultivation into over 25,000 hectares in the next two years. Cultivation of cereals, tuber crops, tapioca and plantain/banana should be increased to a larger area."
He added that Kerala requires 20 lakh metric tonnes of vegetables every year, however, this year's production is just 14.72 lakh metric tonnes. (ANI)