Efforts being made to attain self-sufficiency in pulses by 2027: Munda
By Harikishan Sharma
Observing that India has become self-reliant in chickpeas and many other pulse crops, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda Thursday said “consistent efforts” are being made to attain self-sufficiency in pulses by 2027.
Addressing the Pulses Convention-2024 organised by the Global Pulses Confederation (GPC) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), Munda said, “The government is also consistently striving towards increasing domestic production of pulses to gradually reduce dependence on imports and move towards self-reliance in the pulse sector.”
“As a result of all the efforts made so far, the production of pulses has increased from the initial level of 16.32 million metric tonnes during the period 2015-16 to 26 million metric tonnes (now)…,” Munda said.
He said, “India has become self-reliant in chickpeas and many other pulse crops, with only a slight deficiency remaining in pigeon peas and black gram. Consistent efforts are being made to attain self sufficiency in pulses by the year 2027.”
Munda said the Centre is working “diligently” to improve agriculture production and to raise the living standards of farmers in the country.
Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said that in a short span of time, “Bharat Chana Dal” has captured 25% of India’s market for gram pulses. Goyal said the government has been successful in managing inflation.
“We have today seen 10 years of average inflation ranging between 5-5.5 per cent amongst the lowest decade of inflation that India has seen in its 75 years of Independence,” Goyal said.
Discussing the minimum support price (MSP) Goyal said, “We also support our farmers through procurement of pulses at MSP, which is determined by an independent body called CACP and the MSP today in India is assured at a price 50% over the actual costs of production of our farmers, thereby giving them a reasonable and attractive rate of return for their farming activities.” Talking about Bharat brand pulses and wheat flour, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said that for the first time the government has intervened in the retail market. “Many western economists will tell you that government should not be in the business of doing business. But I beg to differ, if it suits the interests of the citizen of the country and the consumers, the governments must intervene and we should not be left to the mercy of the markets,” Singh said. Singh warned foreign pulse traders not to take advantage of the situation in India.
“Sometime we see that some geographies, I can name Myanmar and some east African countries, where traders will like to take advantage of the situation in India… Please do not indulge in that… If you want to take undue advantage, we will go after you,” Singh said.
Sharing initiatives taken by the government for protecting the interests of farmers, NAFED Managing Director Ritesh Chauhan said, “In life one may require services of a doctor, lawyer, a policeman, and a preacher. So, keep them close. But I would add that it is the humble farmer who provides us our three meals a day.”
This article has been republished from The Indian Express.