480 Districts Covered under NFSM

Four hundred eighty districts of 18 States are covered under National Food Security Mission (NFSM). NFSM-Rice is being implemented in 142 districts of 15 States, NFSM-Wheat in 142 districts of 9 States and NFSM-Pulses is under implementation in 468 districts of 16 States.

The districts under NFSM are identified based on certain criteria. For NFSM-Rice, those districts are identified which have more than 50,000 ha area under rice and productivity is less than the State’s average; for NFSM-Wheat the districts in which irrigation coverage under wheat is more than 50% and productivity is less than State’s average are identified. The districts for implementation of NFSM-Pulses are selected based on existing large area under pulses, potential for area expansion through inter-cropping and utilization of rice fallows. Later, from the year 2010-11, the Pulses component of Integrated Scheme for Oilseeds, Pulses, Oilpalm & Maize (ISOPOM) was merged under NFSM-Pulses to cover 100% area in the NFSM-Pulses districts.

The Ministry of Agriculture had received requests from some States, including Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh for inclusion of new districts/replacement of existing districts. The districts that fulfilled the criteria were included under the programme.