Hyderabad: FTCCI told to suggest ways to boost pulses intake

Red Hills: The Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry-FTCCI organised a conference on 'Pulses: Opportunities and Way Forward.' S Niranjan Reddy, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperation, was the chief guest. Guest of honour was YK Rao, CGM, NABARD.

Among the eminent panelistswere Akhil Kumar Gawar, Director, Telangana State Food Processing Society, Ajay Zadoo, GM, Central Warehouse Corporation, Dr GVRamanjaneyulu, Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Nitin Kalantri, Director, Latur Dall Mill Association, Dr GBK Rao, CMD, Pragati Green Meadows and Resorts,Bala Reddy, CEO, Our Food Pvt Ltd, RamakanthInani, FTCCI President, K Bhaskar Reddy, Senior Vice-President, FTCCI, Anil Agarwal, Vice-President, FTCCI, Sunil Reddy, the Conference Chair, TR Shanmukha, the Conference Co-Chair, Agro & Food Processing Committee, and KhyatiNaravane, CEO, FTCCI.

Niranjan Reddy speaking on the theme for World Pulses Day this year - Nutritious Seeds for a Sustainable Future –mentioned about the 17 sustainable development goals of UN. For generations, the people of India consumed millets and pulses-based food but now the consumption pattern changed due to market strategies of developed countries.

The government procurement policy also supported and encouraged cultivation of paddy and it is a main reason for low cultivation of pulses. He suggested that FTCCI prepare a report on how to improve pulses cultivation and consumption and to give policy recommendations.

Y K Rao, said that despite India being largest producer and consumer of pulses, there is a gap in the nutritional security. NABARD is promoting Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and also promoting from Tricor side for setting up of mini dal mills in tribal areas.

He assured to suggest to SLBC to increase crop lending finance and also increase scale of finance i.e., amount of finance required to grow pulses in one acre of land.

RamakanthInani said pulses were the main sources of proteins to population who are vegetarian. Telangana has the lowest vegetarian population in the country (only 1.5%), which needs to be increased for more consumption of pulses.

In the earlier VAT regime, in the neighbouring States of Karnataka and Maharashtra, foodgrains were exempted from taxes, due to which the dal mills industry moved away from undivided AP.

Sunil Reddy, Chair, Agro & Food Processing Committee, said that though Telangana State is getting 65% of its Gross State Domestic Product from the services sector, 56% of population is still engaged in agri sector. With improvement in water supply and power supply, the State is slowly moving in the direction of mono-cropping pattern towards cultivation of paddy.

As per data, Telangana has 17 lakh hectares of fallow land constituting 15% of geographical area and cultivation.

The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) wanted the governments to include pulses in the public distribution system (PDS) and other welfare schemes. This will surely help small farmers and encourage them to diversify the cultivation from paddy to pulses.

The observation of CACP that "Instead of promoting exports of water-intensive crops such as rice and sugarcane, it is important to promote production of pulses by providing better quality seeds and appropriate price support," highlights the importance of pulses for sustainable farming.