Paddy production up

 
The crisis- hit farm sector in the state may have some reason to cheer with rice production lat season showing an increase. While the Economics and Statistics Department is yet to come out with the latest Agriculture  Statistics, the indications are quite encouraging. Paddy fields in Alappuzha,Palakkad and Thrissur yielded a good crop last season, Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran said.

Alappuzha put on a really good show, with Kuttanad yielding 1.37 lakh tones. Palakkad and Thrissur, especially the kole lands in Thrissur, also registered an increase", the minister said. Agriculture officials in Alappuzha put the figures at 1.37 lakh tones of paddy from 25,000 hectares in the Kuttanad region. This is 30,000 tonnes more than last year. While the compiled figures for Thrissur and Palakkad districts are not available yet, agriculture officials in Thrissur said that the paddy fields in the district, both Kole and non-Kole lands, have yielded on an average, between four and five tones per hectare. Paddy is cultivated in around 32,000 hectares in the district.

(The New Indian Express, 30th  May,2007)