Chandigarh, March 9 (IANS) Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal Tuesday urged Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to relax the parameters of converting paddy to rice as nearly 40 lakh tonnes of paddy was rotting in Punjab.

'The out-turn-ratio of paddy to rice should be converted from 67 to 62 percent, as 40 lakh tones of paddy is currently rotting in the state,' said Harsimrat Kaur, who is also the wife of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

She also told Pawar that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was not lifting the PAU 201 variety of rice, claiming that it is not good.

'PAU 201 is higher in yield and is less water consuming variety of rice and is duly certified by many competent authorities,' she said.

'We are facing a tough situation regarding storage with the failure of FCI to lift 40 lakh tonnes of paddy, at the time when thousands of poor people in the country go hungry every day. Despite 65 per cent less rainfall in Punjab during last summer, farmers and state government had put in all their resources to ensure the food security of nation,' she said

Despite fighting the worst ever drought of the century, Punjab managed to produce 168.35 lakh tons of paddy whereas there was shortage of paddy in the rest of the country, she said.