The government has a plan to expand the area of paddy cultivation in the State to three lakh hectares in the next three years, said agriculture minister V.S Sunil Kumar while launching a paddy farming revival project in Karingaly Puncha, Pandalam of Pathanamthitta district.
He said that the government was committed to making the State free of even a piece of fallow land. State’s dependence on other States for its paddy requirements could be reduced in a big way through the successful implementation of the programmes.
The state government had earmarked Rs. 4.5 crore for reviving paddy cultivation in Karingaly Puncha and Mavara Puncha spread across 2500 acres in Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts respectively.
The Minister said that the government would explore the possibility of bringing in necessary amendments to the existing laws to launch cultivation in lands that had been lying fallow, with the help of Kudumbasree units or credible voluntary organisations.
