Director-General of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Trilochan Mohapatra has said that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE), in association with ICAR, was working on how to counter agriculture produce price crash whenever there is a glut in the market.
“When there is a good yield after a good agriculture year, there is a a glut in the market followed by a crash in the price of agriculture produce, and in a bad agriculture year, the prices shoot up due to shortage in production. We want to reverse this and ensure stability in prices of agriculture produce every time,” he said.
Speaking after inaugurating a three-day 21st annual group meet of All India Coordinate Research Project (AICRP) on chickpea here on Tuesday, Dr. Mohapatra said that the PMO is concerned about this phenomena and the loss suffered by farmers whenever there is bumper yield.
Referring to the record increase in coverage of area under pulses in the country, Dr. Mohapatra said that this year, the production target of 21 million tonnes fixed by the government for pulses could be achieved with increased coverage and also a good monsoon, but this expected increase in the production of pulses should be sustained and every year, the same level of production should be continued through improved research and development activities. Agricultural scientists should come out with new, high-yielding varieties.
He said that the expected reduction in area under agriculture in the coming years should be countered with vertical growth by increasing production through the latest technologies and scientific innovations available.
Deputy Director-General (Crop Sciences) of ICAR J.S. Sandhu, in his address, said that while Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have achieved some success in increasing the productivity levels in chickpea, Karnataka lagged and more efforts are needed to improve productivity in the State.
Dr. Sandhu said that another important issue was storage of pulses. He said that scientists should also come out with innovative ideas for safe storage of pulses. Lauding scientists in the University of Agricultural Sciences in Raichur for their innovative agriculture practice of transplanting pigeon pea which has helped in improving yield, Dr. Sandhu said that this practice needs to be popularised in other pigeon pea-growing states.
Regional Commissioner and Secretary of Hyderabad Karnataka Region Development Board Amlan Aditya Biswas, in his address, traced the history of chickpea and its nutritional values which can help in tackling malnutrition in the Hyderabad Karnataka region.
He wanted the Central Food Technological Research Institute to study the nutritional properties of chickpea and work out ways to take up processing of chickpea. He also assured an assistance of Rs. 2 crore to University of Agricultural Sciences in Raichur for taking up research and development activities in chickpea.
