By IANS,
New Delhi: The government would pay full attention to the farming sector this year as there is a serious drought situation in the country due to insufficient rains, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told parliament Monday.
“In the last four years, we had good produce as there were enough rains. Now, we have a serious situation due to the lack of rains. I will pay full attention to deal with the drought. This year will not be good,” said the minister while replying to the discussion demands for grants for the agriculture in the Lok Sabha.
The minister said the drought situation is grave in the states like Bihar, western and eastern UP, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.
“The Bihar drought situation is very serious,” Pawar said.
He said the central government would give “whatever assistance” the state governments needed to deal with the situation.
“The centre should not be a mute spectator,” the minister said.
Pawar said the initial reports by the meteorological department said the monsoon would be advanced this year.
“Monsoon started in Kerala before the time. But it immediately stopped for 18 days. Now the situation is changing,” he said.
The minister said the government is worried over the paddy produce this year as the crop was affected by the delayed monsoon.
The government has made arrangements to give adequate seeds to the farmers, Pawar said.
The minister also rejected the demand for a separate budget for agriculture.