Arunachal, Tripura, Mizoram score in food output

"The 'Krishi Karman' award for 2011-12 will be given away by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi Jan 15.

These awards are given to best performing states in the production of rice, wheat, coarse cereals, pulses and total food grains, officials told reporters separately in Agartala and Aizawl.

The officials said that Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan would also receive the awards in big category states.

Tripura had got the 'Krishi Karman' national award for 2009-10 in the category of states with overall food grain production of less than one million tonne.

Each award winning state would receive a trophy, a citation and cash award of Rs.25 lakh for total production.

Tripura Agriculture Minister Aghore Debbarma said: "In 2010-11, Tripura had produced 712,000 tonne rice and in 2011-12 this increased to 730,000."

The Mizoram government had launched the Rs.2,873 crore New Land Use Policy (NLUP) in 2010 to solve food scarcity by moving away from shifting cultivation, locally called "Jhum" cultivation, to permanent farming.

The NLUP aims to support 120,000 "Jhumia" (shifting cultivators) families over five years to settle in stable agriculture.