Reiterating the efforts made in pulses sector since the establishment of the Institute, Secretary (DARE) and DG, ICAR Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra said that the ICAR-IIPR and its network programmes have developed and released more than 700 high yielding and disease resistant varieties of pulses along with >50 matching package technologies across the country. He said that by strengthening breeder seed programme and quality seed by establishing 150 seed hubs in India, the country has also reached near the self-sufficiency in seed sector. The major outcome of all these efforts bears fruit as we achieved the record production of pulses to the tune of 23.13 Million Tonnes (MT) during the Year - 2016-17.
While highlighting the ICAR’s mandate for achieving and realizing the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s aim for doubling-up the farmer’s income by the Year - 2022, Dr. Mohapatra lauded the ICAR-IIPR, Kanpur’s contribution to make the country near self-sufficient in pulses.
Dr. Mohapatra also conferred the ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur with the prestigious ”Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR Institution Award - 2017" while inaugurating the “PUSA Krishi Vigyan Mela - 2019" held at the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Pusa. Dr. N.P. Singh, Director, ICAR-IIPR received the Prestigious Award on the behalf of the Institute.
The Director General said that it is a golden moment for all of us to rejoice that India produced 25.23 MT of pulses in the Year - 2017-18 and is expected to cross 25 MT during the Year - 2018-19 also (targeting at 32 MT by the Year - 2030). In this context, the technology adoption (through NFSM, FLDs, A3P in pulses, 60,000 pulse villages, Farmer First and MGMG) and appropriate policy backups (MSP, ENAM or e-Market, buffer stock and PDS) have given necessary momentum in scaling-up the pulses production. With the enhancement in production, the import has also been drastically reduced with the buffer stock of 7.75 lakh tonnes now. Therefore, attaining stability in pulses production front, it is well said that India is poised to accomplish the “Pulses Revolution in India”.
The success stories in pulses included short duration and wilt resistant chickpea varieties for scaling productivity & farmers’ income, adoption of improved lentil varieties for enhanced yield and profitability, and adoption of summer mungbean cultivation in IGP.
Dr. Mohapatra stated that an emphasis is also being given on the technological integration towards a smart agriculture, as this could have desired potential for transforming the country. Thus, the pulses could play a pivotal role to double-up the farmers’ income, besides providing the food and nutritional security in the country.
