Dr. Banarsi Lal & Dr. P Sharma
Pulses and oilseeds have emerged as the biggest challenge for successive governments in inflation management and forking out billions of dollars on imports. These two commodities disturb the kitchen budget of many families. Most of the farmers are not convinced for the commercial cultivation of these two important crops as they don’t consider these crops as the profitable ventures. Oilseeds and pulses continue to flummox the policymakers, farmers and consumers. India is self-sufficient in food grain production despite burgeoning population and various climatic stresses. But the country is still having severe challenges in pulses and oilseeds production. Low gross production compels country to import pulses and oilseeds. The gap between demand and supply often leads to skyrocketing of prices in domestic market in pulses and oils which is a cause of major concern for general public and the government alike. The government is developing the new strategies for achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds. While launching DD Kisan on 26th of May 2015, Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi urged and motivated farmers to work hard in a mission mode for achieving self-sufficiency in pulses by 2022, when India will be celebrating its platinum jubilee of Independence.
Protein malnutrition in India can be eradicated by regular and adequate supply of pulses to the poor people. There is need an effective strategy to increase productivity, area and processing techniques for oilseeds and pulses to mitigate the demand of increasing population. The Indian Council of agricultural Research (ICAR) is making the strenuous efforts to increase the production of oilseeds and pulses by involving its research and extension mechanism across the country. Government of India has also supported ‘International Year of Pulses – 2016’ a call given by United Nations by organizing various activities and events among the farmers with the objective to promote pulses cultivation across the country. India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world. Recently, India fetched the unappreciable position of number one importer due to frequent and large imports. In order to narrow down the demand and supply gap, India imports pulses to the tune of 2-3 million tonnes per year entailing significant expenditure in terms of valuable foreign exchange. In India pulses are grown in an area of around 24 million hectares of land with productivity of about 780 kg a hectare which is less than the global average. Currently, daily per capita availability of pulses is 37 gram which is less than the ICMR recommendation of 52 gram. In order to mitigate the projected demand of pulses, productivity must be enhanced to a level of 1,200 kg per hectare and about 3 to 5 million hectares additional area need to be brought under pulses across the nation. More efforts are needed to drastically reduce the post harvest losses of pulses. There are various bottlenecks to achieve the target of pulses production. Around 92 per cent of the area under pulses is rainfed where pulses cultivation mostly depends on monsoon rains.
Drought and heat stress conditions may reduce pulses crop yields up to 50 per cent, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Pod borers, aphids, cutworms, white fly, powdery mildew, blights, wilts are the major insect- pests and diseases affecting many pulses. Generally, pulses are grown by the resource poor farmers and treated as secondary crops. Pulses are generally deprived of essential inputs, due care and area specific tested latest technologies. Availability of quality seed of improved varieties is one of the major constraints in increasing productivity of pulses. The government has launched many new initiatives and strengthened various programmes to increase the production of pulses across the country. Government of India is operating a National Food Security Mission (NFSM) to maintain sustainable food security in the country which provides support to pulses, cereals, millets and selected commercial crops. Previously the NFSM was operative only in limited states but now the present government has extended its benefits to all 29 states and 638 districts across the country. A major decision has been taken to exclusively dedicate 50 per cent allocations for development of pulses alone. This will benefit north-eastern states and hilly states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand. These states have huge potential for cultivation of pulses but previously, the pulses cultivation was not getting its due share mainly due to lack of sufficient resources. The support provided by NFSM will definitely boost pulses production in these areas and across the country.
Edible oils occupy a unique place in Indian society, culture, dietary patterns and economy of the nation. According to ‘VISION – 2015 document of ICAR – Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad, India is one of the largest vegetables oil economies in the world next to USA, China, Brazil and Argentina. Due to diverse agro-climatic conditions and geographical locations in India, farmers are able to grow the entire nine annual oilseeds viz. groundnut, mustard, soybean, sunflower, sesame, safflower, niger, castor and linseed. Among these, castor and linseed oils are chiefly used for industrial and other applications. In India, oilseeds are the second most important crop after cereals sharing 14 per cent of the country’s gross cropped area and account for nearly 3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Value wise, oilseeds constitutes nearly 6 per cent of the value of all agricultural products. India grows oilseeds on an area of nearly 27 million hectares with productivity of 1,108 kg per hectare. Demand of vegetables oils is increasing steadily because of the lifestyle changes in dietary pattern and increasing per capita income. According to estimates, to meet the per capita demand of nearly 17 kg per year. In other words, country will have to produce about 94.94 million tonnes of oilseeds by 2050 from the existing production of 32.75 million tonnes to achieve near self-sufficiency in oilseeds. India needs a three-fold increase in the oilseeds production in the next nearly 33 years. Interestingly, India is also largest cultivator of oilseeds in the world and paradoxically meets into more than 50 per cent requirement through imports from various countries. Like pulses, oilseeds also face severe challenges in terms of climatic stresses and unfavourable farming conditions, oilseeds cultivation is mainly undertaken on marginal land by resource poor farmers who are generally reluctant to provide recommended inputs for increasing the productivity. Nearly 82 per cent of the oilseeds area falls under rainfed farming where climatic vagaries cause severe damage to crops. Studies have indicated emergence of biotic threats which have the potential to disrupt the production patterns and regional crop preferences in a significant manner. The overall efficiency of procurement sector is also low affecting yield of edible oils from oilseeds crops. Market conditions are also not very encouraging for the farmers.
Present government has launched a number of schemes for the welfare of farmers by increasing profitability of agriculture through innovative policy initiatives. These schemes are also helping pulses and oilseeds farmers to increase their income level by increasing production and productivity. ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ promises security of income to farmers despite natural vagaries at a very nominal premium. ‘Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana’ is continuously expanding irrigation facilities to the rural areas and also helping increase irrigation efficiency by introduction of micro-irrigation techniques. The nation-wide soil health card scheme is also helping the farmers to increase land fertility and productivity. All these schemes, initiatives, programmes and activities are the farmers to achieve the self sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds.
(The writers are: Dr. Banarsi Lal, Scientist and Head of KVK, Reasi and Dr. Pawan Sharma, Scientist at KVK, Kathua (Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu) (SKUAST-J)
