Pulses are directly purchased from farmers at Minimum Support Price
Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, announced the central government’s commitment to achieving self-reliance in pulses production by purchasing Toor, Urad, and Masoor at Minimum Support Price (MSP).
He chaired a virtual meeting with agriculture ministers from various states, held at Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi. Chouhan highlighted the launch of the e-Samriddhi portal by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) for farmer registration. The government is dedicated to buying these pulses at MSP from farmers registered on this portal. He urged state governments to encourage more farmers to register on the portal.
50% Increase in Pulses Production
The minister noted that the country is not yet self-sufficient in the production of these three crops and aims to achieve self-reliance by 2027. He praised the achievement of self-reliance in Moong and Chana and mentioned that dependency on imports has reduced from 30% to 10% in the last decade.
Model Pulse Village Scheme
Chouhan also introduced the new Model Pulse Village Scheme, starting from the current Kharif season. He requested state governments to utilize the fallow land available after the rice harvest for pulse cultivation. He emphasized the adoption of intercropping with Toor and encouraged the active involvement of elected representatives like MPs and MLAs in Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).
Pulse Seed Hubs
To ensure the availability of quality seeds, the Indian government has established 150 Pulse Seed Hubs. ICAR is providing Cluster Front Line Demonstrations (CFLD) in districts with low productivity. Chouhan stressed the need to develop climate-resilient and short-duration varieties to combat climate change effects. He urged state governments to strengthen their seed distribution systems by bolstering State Seed Corporations.
State governments appreciated the efforts made by the central government through the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and assured full cooperation. They noted that with the forecast of above-normal monsoon, achieving the targets set by the Indian government is highly probable.
The meeting, convened to address the need for increased pulse production and reduced imports, saw the presence of agriculture ministers from major pulse-producing states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Bihar, and Telangana. Additionally, Union Ministers of State for Agriculture, Ramnath Thakur and Bhagirath Choudhary, Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General of ICAR, Dr. Himanshu Pathak, were also present.
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