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NEW DELHI: Government has resolved to make India self-sufficient in pulses by December 2027, Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah said on Thursday after launching a portal through which the two co-operatives-Nafed and NCCF-can buy tur dal (pigeon pea) from registered farmers.
“We will not have to import even a single kilogram of pulses from January 2028,” said Shah while appealing to farmers to grow more pulses as their produce be fully procured at minimum support price (MSP) or market price, whichever is higher, through the portal.
Under the initiative, produce of farmers who get themselves registered even before production of tur dal will be procured by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF). The sale proceeds will go directly into the bank accounts of the farmers. Registered farmers will also have an option to sell their produce in open market.
The move is expected to boost domestic pulses production through crop diversification and thus eventually reduce the country’s import dependence.
A similar facility will be also unveiled in future for other pulses such as urad (black gram) and masoor (lentil), and maize. Besides tur, urad and masoor are two other pulses the country depends on imports.
Citing examples of how MSP of pulses has increased substantially over the past nine years, Shah said farmers, being backed by the new procurement initiatives, can now sow as much tur, urad and masoor as they want and their income will double without doing anything else. He said the move will not only make the country self-sufficient in production of pulses but also help in ensuring nutritional security (as source of protein), enhancing soil fertility as the crops provide enough nitrogen to it, and conserving water as its cultivation requires less water.
The move comes at a time when the domestic production of tur is pegged at 3.4 million tonnes in 2023-24 due to fall in acreage, lower than its record output of 4.8 million tonnes in 2016-17.
In the context of a similar portal for maize, Shah said arrangements will be made for selling maize at MSP directly to the ethanol manufacturing factory, so that there is no exploitation of farmers. Since government is pushing for ethanol blending with petrol and reducing crude imports, Shah said maize growing farmers be benefitted from it.
“We will not have to import even a single kilogram of pulses from January 2028,” said Shah while appealing to farmers to grow more pulses as their produce be fully procured at minimum support price (MSP) or market price, whichever is higher, through the portal.
Under the initiative, produce of farmers who get themselves registered even before production of tur dal will be procured by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF). The sale proceeds will go directly into the bank accounts of the farmers. Registered farmers will also have an option to sell their produce in open market.
The move is expected to boost domestic pulses production through crop diversification and thus eventually reduce the country’s import dependence.
A similar facility will be also unveiled in future for other pulses such as urad (black gram) and masoor (lentil), and maize. Besides tur, urad and masoor are two other pulses the country depends on imports.
Citing examples of how MSP of pulses has increased substantially over the past nine years, Shah said farmers, being backed by the new procurement initiatives, can now sow as much tur, urad and masoor as they want and their income will double without doing anything else. He said the move will not only make the country self-sufficient in production of pulses but also help in ensuring nutritional security (as source of protein), enhancing soil fertility as the crops provide enough nitrogen to it, and conserving water as its cultivation requires less water.
The move comes at a time when the domestic production of tur is pegged at 3.4 million tonnes in 2023-24 due to fall in acreage, lower than its record output of 4.8 million tonnes in 2016-17.
In the context of a similar portal for maize, Shah said arrangements will be made for selling maize at MSP directly to the ethanol manufacturing factory, so that there is no exploitation of farmers. Since government is pushing for ethanol blending with petrol and reducing crude imports, Shah said maize growing farmers be benefitted from it.
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