Thiruvananthapuram, April 21: Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today asked the people in the State to be self-sufficient in producing food grains and in the cultivation of fruits and vegetables so as to be prepared for any eventuality in future. Kerala is dependent on other States for meeting its demand for food grains, fruits and vegetables.

“We have enough food stocks available for now and we are in a comfortable situation but if the current circumstances due to the pandemic outbreak continue for long, we would have to start preparing for the future and would need big interventions in the agriculture sector.  The agriculture department in association with LSG bodies is planning big projects to improve our self-reliance. We should explore all possible ways to improve our vegetable cultivation using kitchen gardens, rooftop cultivation and community projects by making the best use of the available agriculture land in the State. We should be able to increase the production for our own consumption and reduce our dependency on other states. We should be prepared to face any shortage or scarcity of food”, the Chief Minister said.

The State needs to adopt modern farming techniques and practices to have maximum produce from the minimum area by adopting them for regional needs. The State needs to increase the rice cultivation in the State to over 25,000 hectares in the next two years. Cultivation of cereals, tuber crops, tapioca and plantain/banana should be increased to a larger area. Kerala requires 20 lakh metric tonnes of vegetables every year and this year’s production is 14.72 lakh MT. The Chief Minister exhorted the youths to come forward and take up agriculture in a large way. The State need large scale interventions to increase the output of food grains, fruits and vegetables

Meanwhile, the CM also informed that the Government has intervened in the fisheries sector to make the wholesale purchase of fish a smooth affair in order to avoid gathering of large crowds in harbours. The harbour committee would decide on a rate based on the average prices in the last few days and the fish would be sold at that rate instead of conducting auctions. This would ensure that all fishermen get a decent price for their catch and customers also get good and fresh fish. This system is being followed in most fishing harbours across the state and he expressed the hope that all harbours would follow this system.