Haryana targets 34.47 M tonnes foodgrain production

Thursday, 22 May 2003, 19:30 IST
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CHANDIGARH: Haryana has targeted 34.47 million tonnes of food grains during the "kharif" or summer crop this year. However, about 100,000 hectares of area would be diverted from cultivation of paddy to oilseeds and pulses as part of a crop diversification plan. This was decided Tuesday at a meeting of the coordination committee on agricultural production presided by Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. Chauthala said apart from cultivation of fruits, flowers and vegetables, the horticulture department should also focus on herbal and medicinal plants as these could be grown to generate additional income for the farmers. The meeting decided to prepare an action plan to promote the cultivation of herbal and medicinal plants. Chautala called for correcting misconceptions among agriculturists about the cultivation of sunflower. He said they should be motivated to take up sunflower cultivation purely on scientific lines. The chief minister said the services of C.C.S. Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar district should be utilised to develop hybrid seeds of various crops, especially sunflower. K.S.Bhoria, state financial commissioner and principal secretary Agriculture), said an action plan was being formulated to give a new orientation to the horticulture and agriculture sectors. He said an agri-export zone for "Basmati", fine quality rice, was also being contemplated in Haryana. Bhoria said a water conservation council had been constituted to suggest and implement measures to conserve water in the state.
Source: IANS