Why in the news?
As per a recent conference of the food minister and nutrition security of India, the Centre intervened to boost paddy sowing in the state as there is shrunk in sown area.
What is Paddy Crops?
- Paddy, also called rice paddy, flooded fields used to cultivate rice in southern and eastern Asia.
- Paddy is a Kharif crop, It is grown in rain-fed areas with hot and humid climates, especially the eastern and southern parts of India.
Importance of Paddy in India
- Rice is the most important food crop and feeds more than 60% population of India.
- The area of the rice crop was 30.81 million/ha in 1950-51 which has increased to 43.86 million hectares during 2014-15 which is around 142% higher.
- As complex carb nutrition, it is the major source of energy for over half of global people. Depending on the strain of rice, it can contain good amounts of fibre, protein, vitamin B, iron and manganese.
- Play a vital role in the context of malnutrition
Reason to boost Paddy sowing
- The demand for wheat and rice has increased globally after the Russia-Ukraine war and continuous outbreaks of Covid and its variant.
- No shortage of stocks but the demand of the international market will help in growing exports and benefiting farmers of India.
Significance of the Conference
- Focussed more on nutritional safety majorly on rice fortification.
- Criticised states for not submitting food bills to the centre.
- States such as Bihar, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh cited delays in audit clearance.
- States such as Rajasthan, west-Bengal, and Telangana were criticised for not sending ministers to the conference.
NFSA rankings
- Odhisa secured the first rank in the implementation of the National food security Act
- UP and Andhra Pradesh secured the second rank in the implementation of NFSA.
- The report displayed that most states did well in digitalisation, Aadhar seeding, and e-POS installation
Way forward
- India needs to implement some efficient and effective measures to check the sowing and harvesting of crops with growing demand globally.
- Exercising conduction and documentation on social and agricultural progress thoroughly across states and Union Territories will further enhance the spirit of the act.
