Date:18/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/18/stories/2007041813300400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Kharif grain target is 88 lakh tonnes

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: The Government has set a production target of 88.24 lakh tonnes of foodgrains during the kharif season anticipating a good monsoon.

For the entire year — kharif, rabi and summer — the target has been set at 119.50 lakh tonnes of foodgrains and 19 lakh tonnes of oilseeds. This is in addition to the target for commercial crops such as cotton (seven lakh tonnes), sugarcane (200 lakh tonnes) and tobacco (0.7 lakh tonnes).

Announcing these targets at a two-day State-level conference organised by the Department of Agriculture here on Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Bandeppa Kashempur said such high targets had been set to ensure that the agricultural sector achieved a growth rate of 4.5 per cent as envisaged in the State's agriculture policy.

The production target for foodgrains last year was 115 lakh tonnes.

The two-day conference will come up with plans to achieve the targets set. The Minister asked officials to evolve suitable crop patterns for the purpose.

He also directed them not to take leave for the next two to three months till the stage was set for sowing to begin. There was a dire need to meet the target for foodgrains because the State had failed to meet last year's target on account of drought and floods, he said.

He reminded the officials that the State hoped to double its agricultural production in about 10 years. This was a challenge as the size of agricultural land was shrinking, the Minister said.