Wheat Harvest Likely To Reach 72 Mt Says Pawar

Ahmedabad: Dispelling doubts, the Union Agriculture and Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, has said the country is set to harvest about 72 million tonnes of wheat this year compared to 68 mt last year. They would have 2.50 lakh tonnes of sugar as against our requirement of 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes. But they still have a long way to go on the food security front. Mr Pawar said the shortage of pulses and oilseeds since the last couple of years had forced the Government to think of importing these commodities. The area under groundnut in Gujarat has been reduced and that of cotton increased. Lauding the efforts made by the State Governments in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, among others, Mr Pawar stressed upon the urgent need to fortify food grains and other articles with micronutrients for distribution to those below the poverty line through the public distribution system.