THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Department of Agriculture is of the view that amendments should not be made in the Kerala Conservation of Paddyland and Wetland Conservation Act, said Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan. “The Act should not be amended. However, lands which can’t be used for cultivation, like ones in the middle of a city can be converted for other purposes after setting apart a part of it for agricultural use’’ the minister told a press meet here on Wednesday.
Asked on the UDF sub-committee’s proposals which examined the issues related to the amendment to the Act, the minister said: ‘’No decision has been made yet and discussions are going on.’’ Elaborating on the schemes that would implemented under Mission 676 , Mohanan said that paddy cultivation will be given prominence by branding varieties like pokkali and njavara. Global Green Meet, aimed at promoting organic farming, will be held in November at Kochi. The project envisaged to make the State self-sufficient in vegetables will be completed in 2016. A project named ‘Kerasamirdhi’ has been mooted to promote hybrid coconut palms. Ten lakh more coconut palms will be planted in the State through this. To fill the shortage of milk in the state, a slew of schemes have been envisaged along with the ‘Govardhini’ project.
‘Neera’ will be made available in the market from June 15. Mohanan said that he will soon meet the Union Minister for Agriculture to hold discussions primarily on the crop loss due to heavy summer rains.