Govt aims to make India surplus in pulses production: Minister

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday said that the government is aiming to make India surplus in pulses production and added that its various steps to increase pulses production is yielding results.

The minister's remarks came during the inauguration of the UN World Pulses Day celebrations here.

In the crop year 2018-19, India produced 22 million tonnes of pulses and for the next year a target of 26.30 million tonnes is projected, he said.

Tomar said that government would provide remunerative prices to farmers for the produce. He pointed out that agriculture Budget was Rs 27,000 crore a couple of years ago, and it has been increased to Rs 1.5 lakh crore in this year's Budget.

Addressing the event, NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand said that in order to increase pulses production, the focus needs to be on research and development as technology is the major driving force in increased production than the price factor.

Tomar also launched a 'family pack' of NAFED pulses and NAFED Organic pulses. The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) is the Central Nodal agency of Government of India for procurement of pulses and oilseeds.