The Department of Consumer Affairs, which falls under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and is responsible for monitoring the prices of essential commodities, plans to promote the cultivation of two pulses – Arhar (TUR) and Urad- Through seed distribution campaigns in a dozen districts in seven states, a top official said on Thursday.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said that the cultivation of arhar and urad will be promoted through seed distribution campaigns, will be done in selected districts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur and Tripura. For this, the National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Limited (NCCF), which comes under the Ministry, has already started preparations, he said.
Khare said that the campaign was launched as a pilot in two districts of Jharkhand last year and after encouraging the results it is being extended to other states.
In the ongoing Kharif season (2025), the cultivation of arhar and urad will be promoted to Palamu, Lathar and Garhwa in Jharkhand; Mirzapur and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh; Gone in Bihar and Jahabad; And Vijaypura in Karnataka. These districts have been identified on two criteria – first they receive rain, and second they have ‘aspirational blocks’ which are identified by Neeti Ayog.
He said that one crore rupees will be spent on the distribution of seeds of pulses in these districts and the government will ensure 100 percent purchase on the basis of minimum support price (MSP) in these districts, if the market prices are reduced, they said.
A report prepared by NCCF on the pilot organized in two districts of Jharkhand shows that seed distribution increased productivity.
“This initiative has increased the income level of farmers by increasing productivity by about 40-50%. In addition, farmers have seen the advantage to use high yielding variety. It highlights the successful efforts in positive impact on promotion of pulses in the region and positive impact on farmer profitability,” the department has been presented.
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India is dependent on imports to meet the demand of its pulses. It imports a dozen pulses from different countries. In 2023-24, India’s pulses imported in 2022-23 to a record high of 47.38 lakh tonnes of about 24.96 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.
The government has increased the MSP for pulses in recent years. For the Kharif marketing season 2025-26, the MSP of Arhar and Urad has been fixed at `8,000 per quintal and 7,800 per quintal respectively.
(Tagstotransite) Department of Consumer Affairs (T) Ministry of Consumer Affairs (T) Food and Public Distribution (T) Essential commodities (T) Cultivation of two pulses (T) Arhar (T) Urad
