The State government has approved a ₹ 51-crore special package for taking up fallow-land farming under the Subhiksha Keralam food security programme, Agriculture Minister V. S. Sunil Kumar said on Thursday.
Farming will be carried out on 12,500 hectares in the State under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-assisted package. Fallow-land farming is being taken up on 25,000 hectares under the Subhiksha Keralam initiative.
Earlier, local self-government institutions had earmarked funds for taking up farming on 12,500 hectares from their Plan fund. The special package of ₹51 crore is in addition to this amount, the Minister said.
The cultivation of paddy (2,500 hectares), banana (3,500 hectares), vegetables (3,500 hectares), tubers (2,500 hectares), pulses (250 hectares) and millets and cereals (250 hectares) will be taken up under the package.
The government expects to boost internal food production by an additional 1.88 lakh tonnes.
