By Vishal Dagar & Komal Chhikara
The CACP has proposed to boost tur MSP to Rs 6,000 for 2020-21 against Rs 5,800 in 2019-20. New MSP for urad has been proposed at Rs 6,000 against Rs 5,700. The proposed MSP for moong is Rs 7,196 against Rs 7,050. The government has also elevated MSP for chana from Rs 4,875 to Rs 5,one hundred and masur from Rs 4,800 to Rs 5,one hundred. The sown region coverage-below Kharif pulses has elevated by 32.33% to 81.65 lakh ha. It was 61.7 lakh ha final year.
Pulses are primarily produced in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. In these states, fantastic rains have helped boost production this year. The present Kharif season accounts for about 30% of complete pulses production in the nation. Higher MSP for pulses and a smooth procurement drive has also encouraged farmers to develop more pulses this season.
Farmers have covered 30.84 lakh ha against 22.39 lakh ha below tur, 25.43 lakh ha against 17.77 lakh ha below urad, 20.98 lakh ha against 16.10 lakh ha below moong and 4.37 lakh ha against 5.39 lakh ha below other pulses. This is the ideal time for the Indian agricultural sector to recognize pulses’ value as the second-ideal option crop for production.
The government has set a target of 25.6 million tonnes of pulses production this year. This target is 11.2% more than the estimated output final year. However, from a nutritional and meals safety viewpoint, the target need to be elevated by 25%. This will also enable the government address troubles of undernourishment and malnourishment.
However, governments will need to assure that pulses are procured at MSP prices to buoy farmer self-confidence in these crops. For instance, the Gujarat government has announced the procurement of kharif pulses, such as moong and urad, amid other crops at the MSP prices. The procurement of moong and urad will take location involving November 2 and January 30. The Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation will be the nodal agency for procurement in coordination with Nafed. The state government has set up 71 and 80 procurement centres for moong and urad, respectively.
With an early start out of monsoon this year and expectations of far better rains in August and September, there is hope that there will be bumper pulse production.
The government of India need to now concentrate on enhancing the productivity of homegrown pulse production by delivering more effective infrastructure in terms of enhanced neighborhood mandi facilities and effortless or accessible credit.
Dagar is going to faculty at Amity University, Noida and Chhikara is PhD Scholar, division of commerce, University of Delhi