ICAR eyes boost in pulse farming with new hybrid seeds

Rudrapur : The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) is all set to develop hubs for seed production across the country with an aim to providing seeds of various pulses to farmers at affordable prices. The project, which is being helmed under the Centre's National Food Security Scheme, will be piloted at the Govind Ballabh Pant University in Pantnagar. ICAR will financially support the project and has announced an amount of Rs 1 crore of which Rs 50 lakh has already been released.

Talking to TOI, agronomist and assistant coordinator of the project, Dr Sanjay Kumar Verma, said that the council has targeted production of two quintals hybrid seeds of pigeon pea (arhar) pulse, two quitals seeds of mung (moong), one quital each of grams (chana) and black pea (urad). The agri-scientists of Pant university have started widespread research along with other research centres specializing in crops, vegetables, medicinal and aromatic plantation at Pantnagar. Other institutes being involved in the comprehensive research include Khanna farms in Rudrapur and agriculture science centre at Dhanuari (Haridwar) and Dhakrani.

"The entire research is being headed by a team of agronomists from the university. We have already sent nine different varieties of seeds to the Centre. Once they are approved, they will soon be released to the farmers. The project aims at producing seeds which are not only highly productive but are also pest-resistant. The project will ensure farmers have access to a healthy variety of seeds at affordable prices. The cultivation of pulses in the country will see a great boost," said Dr Verma.

Currently two varieties of arhar daal, namely ups-120 and pant arhar-291 are considered as the standard for pulses at national level. These varieties are also produced by neighboring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
The dominant species in the country which are produced by Pant university mainly comprise of arhar-291, pant urad-31, mung-2 and mung-5, chana-186, small grain lentil masoor-8 and large grain lentil masoor-7 in pulses. "The university also leads in production of peas variety namely pant matar-13. But we need to produce hybrid and pest resistant seeds in abundance to make the country self reliant in terms of production," he added.