Contradictory policy in pulses: One side is to increase production while imports are released!

- Efforts initiated to increase domestic yield by increasing the use of intercropping system and high yielding seeds in the country.

In the country years ago, domestic production of cereals and pulses fell short of domestic demand and in the meantime we had to rely on overseas imports. However, with the advent of the Green Revolution, domestic production of foodgrains, especially wheat and rice, increased significantly, and in the subsequent period we became self-sufficient in foodgrains and are now in a position to export foodgrains. Market sources said that there is some dependence. Although domestic production of various pulses has increased, the country's imports of overseas pulses have been maintained due to a significant increase in demand over production. In fact, the government is trying its best to reduce the base on such imports and increase domestic production of various pulses. However, such efforts have been slow. While pulses production per hectare in the country is still significantly lower than the global level, in fact, efforts to increase production per hectare could increase the country's pulses production and reduce the dependence on imports, agricultural experts said.

Meanwhile, there are indications that efforts have recently started in this direction. The adoption of intercropping method and increasing the use of high yielding seeds which give higher yields in pulses cultivation can lead to increase in production and there are indications that the government has started efforts in this direction. Efforts are also being made to increase the area under pulses in the country. During the kharif season, the target has been set to increase the area under pulses in the country by about 3 to 4 lakh hectares. About 20 to 21 lakh seed mini kits for various kharif pulses including tuwer, mug, adad etc. will be distributed to the scavengers. Sources said that about ten times more kits will be distributed this year as compared to the kits distributed last year. There are also plans to provide high yielding high yielding seeds to farmers on a free basis. For this, the government has set a budget of Rs 30 to 5 crore. Such seeds can be used for intercropping or even for solo cropping, said agricultural experts.

Experts are claiming that this type of intercropping can yield more than 15 quintals per hectare in the cultivation of tur. Sources said that 12 to 15 lakh such mini kits would be distributed for Tuwer recently. Sources claim that more than 10 quintals per hectare can be obtained through such 5 to 6 lakh such mini kits in mugs while more than 10 quintals per hectare can be obtained through such mini kits in Adad. The target is to distribute 30,000 to 5,000 such mini-kits for inter-cropping while around 1 lakh to 10,000 such mini-kits are targeted for solo cropping. In order to increase production through intercropping in Tuvar, such experiments will be conducted in about 15 to 150 districts in 11 different states including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Such an experiment will be conducted in 30 to 40 districts. For Adad, it has been decided to conduct inter-cropping experiments in about 20 districts in about six different states.

Meanwhile, the total production of various pulses in India is likely to be around 3 to 4 lakh tonnes in the 2020-21 season. However, about four lakh tonnes of tuwer, three lakh tonnes of tuwer, three lakh tonnes of urad and 40,000 tonnes of mugs have to be imported. Experts are hoping that if domestic production of these pulses increases, the dependence on imports will be reduced. Meanwhile, according to a recent report, the government has decided to make changes in the import policy of pulses to control the prices of domestic pulses and pulses and as a result, imports of tur, mug and urad have been placed on the free list instead of the restricted list. The changes have been announced with immediate effect and will come into effect by the end of October this year, market insiders said. Experts also said that such goods, which have been traded and are yet to enter the country, will be allowed to enter the country by the end of November. As a result, if imports increase now, domestic prices are likely to fall.