HYDERABAD: Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy, on Thursday, opined that despite India being on top in terms of consumption, production and import of pulses, there was still a wide gap in meeting the consumption needs of the entire population of the country.
Unveiling a report titled ‘Pulses, Opportunities and the Way Forward’ prepared by a Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FTCCI) research team led by T Sujatha, Deputy CEO-I at HAKA Bhavan, the Minister assured that the State government would consider implementing the findings of the report.
The Minister said that despite growing pulses in 34 per cent of cultivable land in India, the country was not able to achieve enough productivity to meet the consumption needs of its population, which stood as a barrier for achieving nutrition security.
Pointing out that yield per hectare of pulses between 2010-2017 used to be 649 kg, he said that even though the Central government wanted to increase production, the desired results could not be achieved. In Telangana, pulses were cultivated in 10.80 lakh acres last year and that was increased to 20 lakh acres this year, he said.
The Minister celebrated ‘Eruvaka Pournami’ at Allavada village of Chevella mandal in Rangareddy district, where he offered prayers to bulls and ploughed a farmer’s field to mark the occasion.