Coimbatore: Aided by a favourable monsoon, the Centre was sure of achieving the target of 220 million tonnes of food production this year, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav said on August 10.

"The agriculture situation is good and the monsoon is also good. There will be no problem in achieving the target of 220 million tonnes this year," Yadav said.

The Centre also had enough stocks to provide grains under the food-for-work scheme for those below the poverty line, Yadav said.

Asked about the steps to tackle the prevailing drought conditions, he said that there was no drought this year. All the farmers affected so far had already been compensated by their respective state governments, he said.

Three schemes announced by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would give much-needed relief to the farmers, which, he claimed, were the first of their kind since Independence.

Under the Prime Minister's rural self-employment scheme, the Centre was giving 60 per cent in grains and 40 per cent in cash directly to gram panchayats, he said.

The government was providing wheat and rice to the poor at Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg and 10 kg grain free of cost each month to the old and poor citizens, Yadav said.

PTI