UP Set For A New Record In Paddy Production, Bareilly Division Likely To Be At The Top
Lucknow, August 11 (TNA) With cultivation of paddy on 60 lakh hectares of land this year against last year’s 58.92 lakh hectares due to favourable weather conditions, better rains and steps taken by the government in the interest of the farmers, agricultural experts believe that the yield will increase by one million tonnes in the current kharif season. Last year, the production of paddy had crossed 257.04 lakh tonnes.
The Agriculture department had set a target of cultivating paddy on 60 lakh hectares of land out of 96.03 lakh hectares in this Kharif season, of which sowing had been done on 57.72 lakh hectares till August 4 . Sowing of paddy on the remaining land is likely to be completed by August 15. Based on the data of paddy sown last year and this year, it is now being claimed that this time there will be a record production of paddy in UP.
Besides, UP is likely to set a new record in the production of coarse cereals like millet and maize as well due to the conducive weather, according to experts. Out of 18 divisions in the state, the production of paddy is likely to the highest in Bareilly division due to its maximum sowing.
In Bareilly division, paddy has been sown on 194.40 thousand hectares of land followed by 175.50 thousand hectares in Moradabad division, 156.01 thousand hectares in Meerut division, 141.40 thousand hectares in Aligarh division, 73.72 thousand hectares in Saharanpur division and 25 thousand hectares in Vindhyachal division.
With record production of paddy and coarse cereals, Uttar Pradesh's participation in the central food basket will increase further. With the state government also working on increasing the storage capacity for food grains in the state in view of the estimated increase in production.
In 2017, the total storage capacity in the state was close to 29 lakh tonnes, which has been increased by the Yogi Government to more than 51 lakh tonnes in just three years. The Government has set a target to increase storage capacity to 7 million tonnes by the year 2022.