The Agriculture Minister Mr Sharad Pawar today said the country has not reached drought situation but the government is ready with contingency plan to deal with deficient monsoon. Mr Pawar was talking to media on the sidelines of the 84th ICAR Foundation day function in New Delhi.

He pointed out that the situation is worrisome in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and central Maharashtra, where sowing of coarse cereals particularly jowar and bajra, has been affected due to lack of rains. The agriculture minister said the sowing operation goes up to the first week of August and sufficient seeds are kept ready to help farmers undertake late sowing.

He said the government have ample quantity of wheat and rice to meet the domestic demand. The country is exporting only wheat from FCI stocks. Observing that monsoon is playing hide and seek this year, Pawar said the challenge before farmers is to maintain record foodgrains production achieved during last two years.

On the occasion, former President APJ Abdul Kalam said, country will be requiring 350 million tonnes of foodgrains by 2020 to feed the rising population. The former President asked agriculture scientists to play an important role in this regard.

Mr Kalam stressed on the need to provide technological assistance to small and marginal land holders who constitute 50 per cent of the agricultural workforce of the country, for accelerating farm growth.