Centre releases Rs 34 cr for NFSM in Bengal

With a view to enhance productivity of wheat, rice and pulses, Centre has released close to Rs 34 crore under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) for West Bengal.

Out of this, about Rs 17 crore is meant for rice production, Rs 4.76 crore is sanctioned for wheat cultivation, and close to Rs 12 crore is earmarked for pulses, according to a circular available the West Bengal government website.

The fund comes as the second installment of funds under NFSM for the state in the year 2009-10.

The districts covered under the scheme are Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur,West Medinipore, East Medinipore, South 24-Parganas, Howrah, Purulia, Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia and Birbhum.

According to information available at the NFSM website (minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2009), the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) had expressed concerns over “low performance” of West Bengal and UP, especially in the seed sector.

In the meeting, West Bengal had expressed in distribution of seeds as one of the reasons for poor performance.

The DAC has recently proposed to engage consultants assist National Mission Director and states in planning, execution and monitoring of the NFSM. At present, six states, viz Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal, account for nearly 70 per cent of funds under the Mission. Launched in 2007, NFSM is meant to increase production and productivity of wheat, rice and pulses on a sustainable basis so as to ensure food security of the country.

The approach is to bridge the yield gap in respect of these crops through dissemination of improved technologies and farm management practices.

The funds for implementing the mission programme are released directly to the state level agency, which in turn allocates the funds at the district level. The state-level agency is also expected to ensure the implementation of the programme in a time-bound manner.