(PIB)
The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri RameswarTeli in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today informed that the Government is already providing subsidized food grains to more than 80 crore beneficiaries across the country through ‘PM Gareeb Kalyan Yojana’. The Government is also promoting Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme with broader objectives of providing boost to domestic agriculture sector, environment benefits, reducing import dependency and savings in foreign exchange. Ethanol from sugarcane route is not sufficient to achieve blending targets and for other uses. In view of surplus availability of food grains like maize and rice, ethanol from damaged food grains, maize and surplus rice with FCI has been allowed.
The Government is encouraging farmers to diversify from water intensive crops like rice, sugarcane, etc. to more sustainable crops like maize. Further, National Food Security Mission (NFSM) is being implemented in the country for increasing the production and productivity of food-grains including maize. Besides, State Governments have been requested to plan and promote maize cultivation by diverting rice/wheat area around distilleries through “special projects” under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) with the approval of State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) constituted under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary of State. Thus, Government aims to create a sustainable market for surplus maize beyond its consumption in the domestic poultry industry. Moreover, production of ethanol from grain like maize gives a co-product called Dried Distillers Grains with Soluble (DDGS), which is a very high source of protein and is also used as cattle feed/ poultry feed.
