The government on Friday exhorted the eastern states, which usually record their agricultural productivity level below the national average, to gear up and be counted along with the traditional food basket region in the Northwest to offset the agricultural production loss during this drought year even as the Finance Minister said the government might resort to imports to meet food security needs.

The government’s attention shifted to the eastern parts of the country — eastern UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa — as it decided to fast-forward preparation for the next rabi (winter) crop to recoup the losses in the kharif crop.

This strategy was highlighted at a meeting of state Agricultural Ministers here on Friday, where both Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar tried to impress upon the representatives of eastern parts of the country to gear up for offsetting the overall agricultural production losses in the wake of drought.

“I anticipate early and higher coverage of rabi crops this year. This is a good opportunity to ensure that wheat is sown in time, particularly in eastern UP, Bihar and West Bengal. There is a need for taking up an intensive campaign in the eastern region for ensuring that the farmers are able to sow their wheat in time by November 15,” Pawar said.

The Centre outlined a plan to bring additional seven lakh hectares under the rabi crop, buoyed by huge shortfall in paddy sowing in this region and the fact that this area has not witnessed usual flooding. As such, the fields could be prepared early for rabi wheat that may result in higher yield.

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