In order to boost paddy production in the southern state of Kerala, the state government has decided to offer interest-free loans to rice farmers.

According to the state Agriculture Minister Mullakara Ratanakaran, the objective of the scheme was to increase paddy production from the present six lakh MT to 12 lakh MT per year in first phase by bringing 50,000 hectares of more land under paddy cultivation.

The Indian Central government had earlier raised the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy by Rs 105 to Rs 850 per quintal for this year as an adhoc measure before leaving the matter to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council for final decision on increasing it to Rs 1,000 as recommended by CACP.