PARC-15-Pulses-Local-Legumes

The Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) has so far released 15 seed varieties of different pulses for local cultivation in order to promote and enhance output of all major legumes.

The Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) has so far released 15 seed varieties of different pulses for local cultivation in order to promote and enhance output of all major legumes to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses production.

The step had been taken under pulses enhancement initiative, which was aimed at reducing the reliance on imported pulses, consumption of which averages $1 billion annually, said an official of PARC on Friday.

Talking to APP here, he said that the releases of advanced varieties of different pulses would help to enhance the per-acre output of crop, besides helping to conserve foreign exchange being spent on the imports of such pulses.

For this purpose, the official said, the council had also acquired and evaluated 3,230 germplasm of various pulses and conducted 10 national uniform yield trails.

In order to equip the farming communities with innovative techniques, the council had also conducted 118 production technology trials in different locations countrywide, he said, adding that 12 portable irrigation units were also provided to growers of various areas to reduce the reliance on imported legumes.

Besides, the council had also provided subsidised seeds of different beans to over 41,705 farmers across the pulses production areas in the country, he said, adding that the seeds were being provided to local farmers on 50% subsidy, aimed at enhancing the per-acre output of different pulses for attaining self-sufficiency in legume production.

He further informed that under the program, national pulses policy framework was being developed, besides three stakeholders seminars and distribution of pulses machinery among the farmers across the four provinces.

After the initiation of program, he said, the country’s mung bean production was 133 thousand tons, which enhanced to 209 thousand tons after first year of interventions. The council had also introduced other interventions including provision of improved seed varieties on 50% subsidy, farmers capacity building, and farmers’ field demonstration plots with improved production technology, he added.

During 2021, he said, the production of mung bean had reached to 253 thousand tons against the national demand of approximately 180 thousand tons.

In order to develop resilience against malnutrition and hunger in natural resource constraint areas of Thar Parker, PARC had conducted 07 training programs and trained over 1,000 people to promote agriculture sector at micro-level, he concluded.

This news was originally published by Urdupoint.

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