A meeting of Consultative Committee related to National Food Security Mission was held on Thursday. The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Radha Mohan Singh said that country is concerned with the production of oilseeds and pulses.
NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh Yadav also participated in the meeting along with Members of Parliament including Chintaman Navsha Wanaga , Rodmal Nagar , G.Hari , M.B. Rajesh, Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre and Dr Tapas Mandal.
The Minister of Agriculture further said that top priority is being given to increase the production of pulses in the country by Government of India. During the year 2016-17 under NFSM a sum of Rs. 1100 crore has been earmarked as a central share for pulses programmes out of the whole allocation of Rs. 1700 crore.
On this occasion, the Union Minister briefed that according to the third advance estimate the total production of food grains was 252.23 million tonnes in 2015-16 which is a little bit more in comparison to 252.02 million tonnes in the year of 2014-15. He stated that a target has been fixed for the whole food grains production as 270.10 million tonnes for the year 2016-17.
The Members of Parliament raised their concern about seeds certification quality. They suggested the Ministry should take the step for the strict monitoring of the seed certification and ensure farmers to get best hybrid quality seeds. The Union Minister instructed to the officials to take necessary steps as per the suggestions from the Members of Parliament.