More than 100 improved and high yielding species of pulses developed in 5 years
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development, Panchayat Raj and Food Processing Industries, Narendra Singh Tomar said that India is the biggest producer and consumer of pulses in the world and it has almost achieved self-sufficiency in pulses.
In the last five-six years, India has increased pulses production from 140 lakh tonnes to more than 240 lakh tonnes. In the year 2019-20, India produced 23.15 million tonnes of pulses, which is 23.62% of the world. The Minister was speaking at the international event held in Rome to celebrate World Pulses Day which he attended virtually.
Speaking about the importance of the pulses, Tomar said that as pulses are nutritious and rich in protein, they are important for the food basket, especially in a country like India which is predominantly vegetarian. Pulses have low water consumption and can be grown in dry and rain-fed areas. It improves soil fertility by conserving nitrogen in the soil, reducing the need for fertilizers and therefore reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.
Tomar said that the present initiative of the Government of India to increase the production of pulses is an attempt to bridge the demand and supply gap. Since pulses fulfil the protein requirement of a large section of Indians, it will continue to be a major component of Indian agriculture.
He also said, “Pulses will continue to find a place in our National Food Security Mission and other programs as a major crop. Pulses production has increased on a large scale by targeting rice fallow areas and combining innovative technological activities and provision of essential agricultural inputs.”
Stressing upon the importance of pulses, Shri Tomar said that in India, pulses are also distributed in about 1.25 croreAnganwadicenters under the National Nutrition Mission. During the lockdown, the government has supplied pulses-whole pulses to 80 crore people.