With acreage under paddy increasing to 60 lakh hectares this year against last years 58.92 lakh hectares, agricultural experts are confident that the yield will increase by one million tons in the current Kharif season. Last year, the production of paddy had crossed 257.04 lakh tons.
The Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture department had set a target of paddy cultivation on 60 lakh hectares out of 96.03 lakh hectares in this Kharif season, and 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 estimated 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 like millet and maize as well due to the conducive weather, according to experts.
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.
According to agricultural experts, even during the second wave of pandemic, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ensured that there was no shortage of fertilisers and seeds in the state. The government also ensured that there was also no shortage of fertilisers like urea, DAP, NPK, zinc and potash while the movement of machines for harvesting wheat continued as usual.
The Yogi government is 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 tons, which has been increased to more than 51 lakh tons in just three years. The government has set a target to increase the storage capacity to 70 lakh MT by 2022.