The West Bengal government is chalking out a new plan to set right the serious agricultural imbalance that the state faces.
The state is the largest producer of rice, jute and vegetables in India. But production of wheat, pulses, oilseeds and maize are so deficient that West Bengal is depending heavily on other states.
In order to correct the imbalance, the West Bengal government is coming out with a detailed action plan for promoting crop diversification in the state's cultivable area of nearly 55 lakh (5.5 million) hectares.
The plan's main thrust is to limit the acreage under paddy cultivation by 5 per cent over the next five years and to raise acreage under oilseed by 5.8 per cent, pulses by 5.5 per cent, maize by 2.2 per cent and wheat by 0.8 per cent over the next five years.
West Bengal Agriculture Minister Naren Dey said the five-year
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