Director-General of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Trilochan Mohapatra has asked agricultural scientists to double their work on breaking yield barriers in pulses production and help the country not only achieve self sufficiency in the field but also tap into the export market for pulses.
Speaking after inaugurating the three-day 21st Annual Group Meet of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Chickpea (Bengal Gram) at the Agriculture College premises in the outskirts of Kalaburagi recently, Dr. Mohapatra told the top agricultural scientists from premier research institutes and universities across the country that the increase in the production levels of the pulses when compared to cereals in the country over the past few decades was minimal. Dr. Mohapatra noted that while the increase in the production of the pulses over the past few decades had doubled, the production of the cereals had increased by five times.
PMO concernedDr. Mohapatra said that the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) is highly serious and concerned about the low production levels of the pulses and the dependence of the country on the imports of pulses to meet demand. He added that the PMO has issued a dictum to ICAR and DARE to work to improve the yield of the pulses and achieve self sufficiency in the production.
‘More research needed’He said much needs to be done with regard to R&D activities to improve the yield of the pulses by coming out with the more number of short-duration and high-yielding varieties. He lamented that even after so many years of research, the country had still not come out with a short-duration pigeon pea (red gram) crop. Latest technology and innovation must be used effectively to come out with new varieties.
Transgenic varietiesDr. Mohapatra said that in the past decade, “We have been telling the government that we will come out with transgenic varieties of pulses and till date, no progress has been made on this front. The PMO is concerned about this and wants a definite time frame for the release of transgenic variety of pulses. Our scientists must ensure that they come out with a transgenic variety of chickpeas within two years.”
Dr. Mohapatra said that the technology transfer from the lab to the land should be more effective. He questioned why the scientists working on pigeon pea could not come out with a solution to the flower-dropping problem in the crop and why scientists had failed to control the menace through genetic manipulation. He said that many of the innovations made by the scientists were not being used by the farmers and a critical analysis on why the farmers have not adopted these innovations in their practices is required.
The scientists should also attach importance to the value additions to the crop. More than 130 scientists from all over the country are participating in the meet.
