Despite producing 27 per cent of the global requirement of pulses, India is still short of around five million tonnes, said S.A. Patil, consultant, Indo-Morocco Food Legume Initiative, at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference to announce a three-day consultation on ‘Enhancing the productivity and profitability of pulses for Addressing Food and Nutrition Security,’ at the MSSRF from Sunday, Dr. Patil said the meet would set the stage for an in-depth discussion on issues and challenges in increasing pulse cultivation.
He said increasing the area under pulse cultivation was pertinent as the government was taking various steps, including importing, to bridge the gap.
“If farmers give up one of the three rice crops in a year, pulse cultivation can be taken up on an additional 11 million hectares through rice fallow cultivation method where the pulses are sown as soon as the rice crop is harvested,” he said.
V. Selvam, executive director, MSSRF, said that Mahmoud Solh, director General, International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Beirut; and K. Ramasamy, vice-chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, will be among the key speakers at the conference.
Booklet on pulses
Dr. Patil also released a booklet on pulses and K. Muthukumar, Additional Director General, Press Information Bureau, received the first copy. The latter also spoke.
