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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Pulses will not let farmers reap the benefits -Deepa H Ramakrishnan

Pulses will not let farmers reap the benefits -Deepa H Ramakrishnan

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published Published on Aug 13, 2016   modified Modified on Aug 13, 2016
-The Hindu

Chennai: Even as various agencies push farmers to take up cultivation of pulses, questions about seed availability and procurement are making agriculturists think twice about taking it up. Pulses bring in more profits, take lesser time to grow, require lesser water than paddy and fix nitrogen in the soil, thus reducing the use of fertilizers for the next crop.

“Though the price of pulses in the retail market is quite high, farmers don’t get much. The end consumer pays thrice the amount the farmer gets for his work. It is the middlemen who make a killing. If we find proper buyers, who will procure our goods on a continuous basis, it would help us take up pulse cultivation,” said V. Ravichandran, Nannila Progressive Farmers Forum from Thiruvarur district.

Though the Agriculture department has been suggesting that rice fallow cultivation be taken up, farmers say if they sow urad seeds a few days before paddy crop is harvested, mechanical harvesters destroy the seedlings or chop off the top of tender plants.

Also, “farm labour is tough to find and many of us share mechanical harvesters. In such a situation, only those who have pumpsets prefer to take up urad cultivation under irrigated conditions,” Mr. Ravichandran said, adding the government could consider renting out pump sets or offer subsidised rates to small farmers so that they too could benefit. Around 85 per cent of Indian farmers are small farmers, who cannot afford pumpsets.

Agriculture scientist M.S.Swaminathan said though the government fixes a minimum support price for pulses, it does not procure them. “There is no procurement mechanism in place as in the case of paddy or wheat. When that comes, it would attract more farmers to take up pulses cultivation and break the pattern of three paddy crops a year,” he said at a recent consultation on increasing pulses cultivation.

Lack of storage facility

P.K. Deivasugamani, State president, Tamil Nadu Vivasaya Sangangalin Kootu Iyakkam, said the government should create facilities for storage and intervene when prices are less. “For instance, ten days ago farmers sold onions at Rs. 7 a kilo… a big loss for many. When the prices go up only those who have storage facilities benefit, which is why we have been demanding creation of storage facilities and procurement by the government when prices go down,” he said.

Sources in the Civil Supplies department said as of now pulses production was very low in the State and most of what is consumed is sourced from elsewhere.

“Government procurement alone will not help. Even with respect to paddy, which the government procures, of the total production of around 100 lakh tonnes only 15–16 lakh tonnes are purchased by the Civil Supplies Corporation. If the farmer becomes a player in the agricultural commodity market, his interests would be protected,” explained a former Civil Supplies department official.

Though they need less time and water and fetch a good price, it is middlemen who reap the benefits

The Hindu, 12 August, 2016, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/pulses-will-not-let-farmers-reap-the-benefits/article8976891.ece


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