Boost Pulses Output: Hybrid Seeds & Replacement Key

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi on Thursday emphasised the need for research breakthroughs in high-yielding varieties of pulses and improved seed replacement rates to boost domestic production and reduce import dependence.

Speaking at the launch of a Niti Aayog report on pulses, Chaturvedi said the country faces a major challenge in increasing production of pulses and oilseeds, even as it has achieved remarkable progress in rice and wheat.

"Pulses are an important part of the diet in India and have very little elasticity and replaceability, unlike edible oils," the secretary said, stressing the need to produce all types of pulse varieties.

While the government has assured procurement of surplus pulses -- especially arhar, urad and masoor -- at minimum support price for the next four years as announced in the previous Budget, a research breakthrough is required in developing high-yield varieties.

"Pulse is such a food crop that there are no hybrid varieties. There are only open-pollinated varieties produced by the government or the farmers themselves. A lot of research is being done by ICAR organisations and some international organisations on how to develop hybrid varieties. If this is achieved, our productivity will increase on a very large scale," Chaturvedi said.

The secretary highlighted that while the variety replacement rate in pulses is satisfactory, the seed replacement rate lags behind.

"A variety is developed, but there is a gap in ensuring it reaches farmers. States have a big role, and there is a need to work closely with state governments," he said.

The cluster approach suggested in the Niti Aayog report "Strategies and Pathways for Accelerating Growth in Pulses towards the Goal of Atmanirbharta" will help address this planning gap, he added.

ICAR Director General ML Jat stressed increasing productivity levels and vertical expansion, for which research efforts need to focus on growing pulses through sugarcane intercropping or relay cropping in cotton or other cropping systems, or in rice fallow.

He said there is no herbicide molecule for rabi pulses for post-emergent application. "Weeds are leading to losses up to 30-40 per cent. We need to focus research on that."

"Of course, ICAR and partners are working intensively now on genomic breeding for biotic and abiotic stress, but I think there is a need to do more work. Strengthening the seed system more at the local level is one of the important aspects for pulse productivity."

There is also a need to see pulses from a multi-criteria perspective, he noted.

"Mechanisation for pulses is another dimension, and we have seen reports, for example, farmers are growing green gram during summer and then spraying herbicide to knock it down and harvest."

Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam and member Ramesh Chand also stressed increasing pulses production in the coming years.

India's pulses production is estimated at 25.23 million tonnes for the 2024-25 crop year (July-June).