Rallis to start 'More Pulses' project in Odisha

Rallis India Limited, a Tata Group firm and one of the country’s leading agro-chemicals companies, will start its More Pulses (MoPu) initiative in Odisha in the rabi season of next year. The initiative is aimed at scaling up pulses output.

“We will adopt five villages on an experimental basis in the state in the next rabi season under the programme for growing more pulses. About 10 farmers will be selected and our officials will offer advice to them on cultivation from seed to harvest stage,” said V Shankar, managing director and chief executive officer, Rallis India.

The MoPu project initiated by the company is being successfully implemented in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In MoPu, the company works with farmers to grow quality pulses, increase productivity, procure the produce and bring it for sale in packaged form.

In India, Rallis India aims to cover 0.15 million farmers and about 0.2 million acres under the project by the end of this fiscal.

Shankar was in the city to launch Tata Rallis Agri Input Training Scheme (TRAITS), an initiative aimed at enhancing the employability of non graduate youths from farming backgrounds by training them in agri-marketing and crop advising.

Rallis India has partnered the state agriculture department for training 25 selected youths for one year. The company is running similar training programmes in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Karnataka.