Food Minister Piyush Goyal urged all the states to expand rice sowing on Tuesday, shortly after his ministry’s staff requested that states with surplus rice diversify their crops by growing other crops, including as pulses and edible oil, in addition to paddy.
Speaking at the Conference of State Food Ministers on Food and Nutrition Security in India, Goyal said, ‘So far, the sowing of rice is 16 per cent lower than the normal level nationally. I request you to talk to your Agriculture Ministers to increase the sowing of rice in comparison to the last year’, Goyal said.
He further added at the conference attended by Food Ministers of several states and officials of central ministries and states, ‘We request all the states to increase the sowing of rice. Currently, it is less than last year. So, I request all the states to please increase the sowing of rice’.
According to information by the Union Food Ministry, 10 states – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand – were rice surpluses in the year 2020–21, which means their rice purchase surpassed their allocation under the NFSA, ICDS, and Mid-Day Meal.
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