Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 21 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday asked the people of the state to be prepared for the worst but said that they will ensure that there will be no shortage of food in the wake of Covid-19 striking across the world.

"As a matter of abundant caution, in the worst case, if things do take a turn for the worse, then we will have problem with food materials. As things stand, we do not have any issue at all for three months. But you never know, so we have to be ready. So I request all of you to ensure that you should plant something in your land, however small your land holding is," he said.

Vijayan said that not a inch of land in the state should be left idle.

"The local bodies will be ready to take over vacant land, if it's not going to be cultivated by the owner of the land. Our aim is to see that we should see that we produce our own food stuffs like tapioca, plantains and all sorts of vegetables," he said.

He pointed out in the coming two years, paddy cultivation will be done in 25,000 hectares.