100% Procurement of
Pulses
·
Union
Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan assures 100% procurement for the farmers
producing Tur, Urad and Masoor
·
Only
big traders buy in Govt auctions to add stiff margins leading to price rise for
consumers.
·
First
video conference held by Mr. Chauhan with the State Agriculture Ministers of major
pulse producing States
·
States
urged to work as a team with Centre for making India not only self-sufficient in
foodgrains production but also the Food basket of the
World
·
States
for their efforts in increasing pulses production by 50 percent since 2015-16.
·
Country
has achieved self-sufficiency in green gram (moong) and gram (chana) and mentioned
that the country has reduced dependency on imports from 30 percent to 10 percent
during last 10 years.
Union
Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the Centre is committed
to procure Tur, Urad and Masur at Minimum Support Prices (MSP) to ensure crop diversification
and achieve self-sufficiency in pulses production. Chairing a virtual meeting with
agriculture ministers of various states at Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi on 21
June, 2024, Mr. Chauhan said e-Samridhi portal has been
launched through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India
Ltd. (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF)
for registration of farmers and government is committed to procure these pulses
at MSP for farmers registered on the portal. He urged the State Governments to encourage
more and more farmers to register on this portal so that they can avail the facility
of assured procurement.
The
Union Minister said that the country is not self-sufficient
in production of these three crops and aims to achieve self-sufficiency by 2027.
Mr. Chauhan complemented the states for their efforts in
increasing pulses production by 50 percent since 2015-16 but called for more
efforts in increasing the yield per hectare and motivating farmers for growing pulses.
He appreciated the fact that the country has achieved self-sufficiency
in green gram (moong) and gram (chana) and mentioned that the country has reduced
dependency on imports from 30 percent to 10 percent during last 10 years. Mr.
Chauhan urged the states to work as a team with Centre for making India not only
self-sufficient in foodgrains production but also the
Food basket of the World.
He
informed about the new Model Pulses Village scheme which is being rolled out from
the current Kharif season. The minister requested the State Governments to utilize
the fallow lands which are available for pulses after the rice crop is harvested.
Mr. Chauhan also asked the State Governments to take up inter-cropping of Tur in
a vigorous manner. He mentioned that the State Governments should share their best
practices with each other and visits should be undertaken for this. He mentioned
that the elected representatives such as MPs, MLAS should be actively involved in
the KVKs.
The
Minister spoke regarding the need for crop diversification towards cash crops and
the need to restore the fertility of the soil. He stressed the requirement of timely
and quality inputs to farmers such as good quality seeds for increasing the productivity
and assured maximum support regarding this. He informed that for availability of
good quality seeds, the Government of India has opened 150 Pulse Seed Hubs and Cluster
Front Line Demonstrations (CFLDs) are being given by the ICAR in the low productivity
districts. He mentioned the need to develop climate resilient varieties and short
duration varieties so that the effects of climate change could be countered. He
requested the State Governments to strengthen their seed delivery systems by strengthening
the State Seed Corporations.
The
meeting was called realizing the necessity for immediate attention to increase the
pulses production in the country with a view to reduce imports. State Agriculture
Ministers of the major pulses producing States namely, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Bihar, Telangana were present during
the meeting. The State Governments appreciated the efforts being made by the Centre
through the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and assured of full cooperation.
They mentioned that since the monsoon has been predicted as above normal, the targets
set by the Government of India are very likely to be achieved. The States recognized
the need for increasing the distribution of high yielding varieties of seeds and
also the need for increasing the area under pulses on an urgent basis. The Union Minister assured all the support to states and invited
all state agriculture ministers to Delhi for holding a detailed meeting of agriculture
scenario of the state and address any issues collectively.
Union
Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Mr. Ram Nath Thakur and Mr.
Bhagirath Chaudhary, Agriculture Secretary Mr. Manoj Ahuja and Secretary of Department
of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General of Indian Council
of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Dr. Himanshu Pathak were
also present in the meeting.