After incentives, pulses may cost less next year

The rise in prices of pulses, along with government incentives and motivational efforts for the cultivation of the pulses has seen an at least 150% rise from last year’s cultivation.

After farming began on 95% of the area under cultivation, farmers in the state have seemingly changed the cropping pattern with the area under cultivation for pulses increasing substantially. The rise in prices of pulses, along with government incentives and motivational efforts for the cultivation of the pulses has seen an at least 150% rise from last year’s cultivation.

With almost all districts registering more than 76% of the average rainfall, the sowing of Kharif crops has reached 90%. Though the cereals have seen a dip in sowing in the last five-year average, pulses like red gram (tur dal), black gram (udid dal) and green grams have seen a sizable rise in sowing.

If the plans succeed, the prices of pulses in the Indian market are likely to fall substantially next year. “The pulses grown by farmers earned twice the amount sugarcane and pomegranate growers earned per acre over the past two years. This has resulted in the rise in area this year and it will definitely lead to the rise in production. ,” said Balasaheb Bende, former director, APMC, Vashi.

“We have been implementing a Rs250 crore programme to promote the cultivation of pulses throughout the year. Besides the distribution of seeds, the programme also includes the distribution of micro nutrients, bio-fertilizer, crop-improvement initiatives for pulses. The farmers, who grow pulses, have been getting a good price for their produce owing to the shortage and high rates in the market for the past two years. As a result, the area for cultivation has increased by 2.50 lakh hectares,” said Vikas Deshmukh, agriculture commissioner.