While this year, the situation of wheat, rice as well as sugar would be comfortable, nothing could be said about next year, Mishra said. If the monsoon turned out to be bad under the influence of El Nino, there could be problems in meeting the demand, he added.
He said his ministry was not leaving anything to chance. An elaborate scheme has already been chalked out to augment irrigation potential through tubewells in areas where underground water is readily available. I have written to the Planning Commission, the finance ministry and the Prime Minister regarding this project, he said.
The agriculture minister estimated the cost of the project at around Rs 400 crore-Rs 500 crore, but said this amount had to be spent for the sake of a secure food position in food. The production of other crops, including rice, coarse cereals and pulses has also risen appreciably in 1996-97.