The government will take over the excess land acquired for a private airport at Aranmula against the backdrop of the Kerala High Court’s finding that it has violated the Land Ceiling Act, Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar has said.
Inaugurating the sale of Aranmula rice brand and the rice shop at Aranmula on Friday, he said the Land Assessment Committee had completed the formalities for the same and necessary steps would be taken to take over the excess land. Paddy cultivation would be fully revived across the Aranmula Puncha, including the 420 hectares identified for the airport project, in the next two years.
Paddy farming in the State would be extended to 3,00,000 ha from the present 1,96,000 ha in the next four years so as to double the State’s paddy production. The idea was to market the rice produced in a particular locality there itself, giving it the brand name of the same village with a view to facilitating easy availability of pesticide-free rice across the State. The government was also planning to set up three rice mills to produce local rice brands, he said.
The Left Democratic Front government had declared its policy that paddy land should not be utilised for any other purpose, he added.
Veena Goerge, MLA, presided over the function.
