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Rice production in the current kharif season may touch a record high on an increase in acreage aided by beneficial monsoon, said Tariq Anwar, Minister of State for Agriculture.
“Monsoon has been good so far this year. The sowing area is higher and it seems this time we will set new records in foodgrain production, including rice, during kharif,” Anwar told reporters on the sidelines of the Assocham Agri-Biotech event here.
Kharif rice output last year stood at 92.76 million tonnes, according to the Government’s recently-released fourth advance estimates. Total rice production last year stood at 104.40 million tonne, marginally lower than the previous year’s record 105.3 million tonnes.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar also said that even spread of monsoon this year could help the country break the last two years’ record in foodgrains output. Last year, kharif foodgrain output was a record high of 131.27 million tonnes.
During the current kharif season, rice has been planted on 196.38 lakh hectares area (ha) as on July 26, against 184.24 lakh ha in the corresponding period a year ago. Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a higher acreage this year, while West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have registered a lower area.
GM crops safety
Earlier, addressing the Agri-Biotech event, Anwar said there was need to clearly establish protocols and systems through which we could come to a definite conclusion about the long-term safety of genetically modified crops. He also suggested the scientific community come together to develop a procedure through which risk assessment can be done objectively.
Reiterating the recommendation made in its interim report, the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert Committee recently said there should be a moratorium on field trials for Bt in food crops (those that are directly used for food) intended for commercialisation (not research) until there is more definitive information from a sufficient number of studies as to the long-term safety of Bt in food crops.
Stating that ensuring food security to the growing population was the biggest challenge that the country faced, Anwar said biotechnology was expected to play a major role.
Though the country has seen an increase in food production, it still has a long way to go in improving productivity levels.
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