Per capita pulses availability falls

India's pulses import declined to 2.69 mn tonnes in 2010-11 fiscal from 3.51 mn tonnes.

The per capita availability of pulses has declined by 24 per cent at 11.6 kg/year in 2010 calendar year from 15.3 kg in 2008 even though the production has risen,Parliament was informed today.

The decrease in the per capita availability of pulses could be mainly attributed to slow rate in increase of pulses production compared to rate of population growth,” Food Minister K V Thomas said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

The minister noted that pulses output has increased to a record 18.09 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year (July-June) from 14.57 million tonnes in 2008-09.

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The annual domestic demand for pulses has increased to 19.08 million tonnes in 2010-11 fiscal against 18.29 million tonnes in the previous year,he said.

India’s pulses import declined to 2.69 million tonnes in 2010-11 fiscal from 3.51 million tonnes in the previous year.

The government is promoting the production of pulses through schemes like National Food Security Mission on Pulses (NFSM-Pulses) and integrated development of 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas,the minister said.

In order to boost the production of pulses further during rabi season through additional coverage area,an additional allocation of Rs 80 crore has been made under NFSM-Pulses and released to the states based on contingency plan prepared by states,” Thomas noted.

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