Pulses in India are imported by private sector and not by government. There are no restrictions on import of pulses. There is no import duty on import of pulses. However, government imported 5,000 tonne of pigeon pea (tur) for taking up limited market intervention. This information was given by minister of state for agriculture & farmers welfare Mohanbhai Kundaria in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
According to him, government promotes production of pulses in the country through National Food Security Mission (NFSM), which covers 622 districts in 27 states. Around 50% of total allocation of NFSM is made for pulses for various interventions like demonstration of improved technology, distribution of quality seeds of new varieties, integrated pest management, water saving devices and capacity building of farmers. An additional allocation of Rs 440 crore has been made for rabi and summer pulses during 2015-16. In order to increase production of pulses in eastern India, pulses have been included in the scheme Bringing Green Revolution in Eastern India (BGREI) also from 2015-16. A special programme for demonstration of new varieties of pulses seeds through Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) has been initiated from rabi 2015-16.The government has substantially increased minimum support price (MSP) for pulses in the current year.
