Govt to distribute over 20 lakh mini-seed kits to boost pulses output in kharif 2021

The government on Thursday said it will distribute over 20 lakh mini-kits of seeds worth Rs 82.01 crore as part of a strategy to boost pulses production in the kharif season of the 2021-22 crop year July-June.

The government on Thursday said it will distribute over 20 lakh mini-kits of seeds worth Rs 82.01 crore as part of a strategy to boost pulses production in the kharif season of the 2021-22 crop year (July-June). Sowing in the kharif (summer) season begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June, which the Met Department has forecast to be normal this year. Tur, moong and urad are the key pulses grown during the kharif season.

In a statement, the Agriculture Ministry said a detailed plan has been chalked out in consultation with the state governments for both area expansion and productivity improvement of tur, moong and urad. ''Under the strategy, utilising all the high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds that are available either with the Central Seed Agencies or in the states will be distributed free of cost to increase area through inter-cropping and sole crop,'' the ministry said. For the coming Kharif 2021, it is proposed to distribute 20,27,318 (almost 10 times more seed mini kits than 2020-21) amounting to Rs 82.01 crores, it said.

The total cost for these mini-kits will be borne by the central government to boost the production and productivity of tur, moong and urad. Further, these mini-kits used for inter-cropping and urad sole crop will cover an area of 4.05 lakh hectare in the Kharif 2021 season. In addition to this, the usual programme of inter-cropping and area expansion by the states will continue on a sharing basis between the Centre and state, it said. The mini kits will be supplied by the central agencies/ state agencies to the destination at the district level approved under the strategy by June 15, the statement added.

India is still importing around 4 lakh tonnes of tur, 0.6 lakh tonnes of moong and around 3 lakh tonnes of urad for meeting its demand. ''The special programme will increase the production and productivity of the three pulses of tur, moong and urad to a great extent and will play an important role in reducing the import burden and usher India to become Aatmanirbhar (self-reliance) in the production of pulses,'' the ministry said. For effective implementation of the Kharif mini kit programme, the ministry said a massive outreach with the concerned district will be held both through a series of webinars by the central government and state governments concerned to ensure that there are no hiccups. From a meagre production of 14.76 million tonnes in the 2007-08 crop year, pulses production has now reached 24.42 million tonnes in the 2020-2021 crop year, which is a phenomenal increase of 65 per cent.

This success is largely attributed to several significant interventions at the central level.

The government has consistently been focussing on bringing new areas under pulses along with ensuring that productivity is also increased in the existing areas under cultivation, the ministry noted.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)