THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government on Wednesday said it intends to protect and preserve the existing paddy lands in the state at any cost and will not allow them to be converted for other purposes.

The announcement was made in the state assembly by Kerala Agriculture Minister P Prasad in response to a query during question hour on whether the government intends to preserve existing paddy fields.

The minister stressed the need to preserve the existing paddy fields from the perspective of ensuring food security and recharge the groundwater table.

According to Prasad, one acre of paddy land collects around five crore litres of water underground in a year and therefore, it was important to preserve them from the angle of water resources.

The minister opined that just like forest reserves, "there should be paddy reserves".

However, we cannot tell a farmer that his agricultural land is being declared a reserve paddy field, he added.

"That is why we enacted the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act in 2008 to preserve and protect the paddy fields and water bodies in the state."

He further said the government, therefore, has no intention of permitting conversion of "even an inch" of paddy fields for other purposes.

"We intend to protect and preserve the paddy lands in the state at any cost," Prasad said.