Govt policies led to decrease in pulses production

DIRECTOR OF the Indian Institute of Pulses Research Dr Masood Ali stressed upon the need for raising production of the pulses in the country. Speaking on the second day of the four-day international conference on ?Post Harvest Technology and Value Addition in Cereals, Pulses and Oilseeds?, at the Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology (CSA) here today, he said that though pulses were only next to cereals in terms of agriculture importance and were considered the best option for diversification and intensification of agriculture .

DIRECTOR OF the Indian Institute of Pulses Research Dr Masood Ali stressed upon the need for raising production of the pulses in the country.

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Speaking on the second day of the four-day international conference on “Post Harvest Technology and Value Addition in Cereals, Pulses and Oilseeds”, at the Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology (CSA) here today, he said that though pulses were only next to cereals in terms of agriculture importance and were considered the best option for diversification and intensification of agriculture across the globe, yet its production in the country had not been satisfactory.

He said that the areas in the northern region were best suited for pulse production but due to government policy and lack of incentives for the farmers, the production of pulses had gone down. However, in southern regions the farmers have diversified the crop production and took up cultivation of pulses as the main crop in view of its export potential.

He said that in 2005, the global production of pulses was 61.72 mllion tonnes from an area of 73.2 million hectares with an average yield of 843 kg per hectare. Developing countries contributed about 74 per cent to the global pulse production and the remaining came from developed countries, he added. Though some of the countries like Canada, India, Australia, France, Mexico, Nigeria and Turkey made a substantial production gain in pulses during the last three decades but India remained the key player with 25 per cent share in the global pulse market from an cultivation area of about 33 per cent in 2004.

Referring to the price rise in pulses in the country, he said that the prices of pulses increased significantly due to their low production despite the country being the key player at the global level. Declining per capita availability of pulses indicated that the pace of technological development could not commensurate with the rising demand of pulses. Fluctuation in pulses production in developing countries including India remained a big challenge and needed critical analysis of the factors contributing towards instability in productivity, he added.

Dr Masood suggested that it had become imperative to have a holistic approach for developing improved varieties and production technologies for different agro ecological regions and cropping system. It required efforts in consortium mode to foster the necessary framework of knowledge and materials that would result in major scientific breakthroughs.

Speaking on the occasion, Alka Srivastava of Centre of Oral Biology, University of Rochester Medical Centre, USA, said that in order to gain full benefit from the crop it was important to sustain the quality of the crops until they were delivered to the consumer. She said that too much of the world’s food harvest was lost to spoilage and infestations while reaching to the consumer. She also spoke about the micro-arrays technology and said that these technologies could be useful for developing quality crops.

Earlier, several other eminent agro-scientists addressed the two technical sessions.