Govt plans Rs 200 cr extra spend on food security

The government today sought the Parliament's approval for Rs 200 crore extra spending on the National Food Security Mission in the current financial year ending March.

The National Food Security Mission aims to increase production of staple food grains""rice, wheat and pulses""by 11 per cent over the next four years to make the country self-sufficient in food grains and reduce dependence on imports.

Under the mission, in the next four years, the government aims to produce an additional 8 million tonne of wheat, 10 million tonne rice and two million tonne of pulses.

A senior government official said the National Food Security Mission is part of the Rs 250 billion government programme announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in May to help states increase farm output.

The official said the total expenditure for the National Food Security Mission in the current financial scheme is seen at about Rs 10 billion, a large chunk of which will be taken from funds allocated to the existing poverty alleviation and other schemes.