NEW DELHI: The government is targeting to increase pulses production by around 50 per cent to 24 million tonne by 2020-21 through use of hybrid and high-yielding seed varieties, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has said.

The country imported Rs 69,717 crore worth of edible oils and Rs 18,000 crore worth of pulses during last fiscal to meet the domestic demand, the minister informed.

Addressing the Members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee related to his ministry, Singh said the government is giving a thrust on increasing the productivity of oilseeds and pulses. He emphasized on the need for greater mechanization in harvesting of pulses and oilseeds to prevent harvest loss. “A road map to achieve production of 20 million tonnes (MT) pulses in 2016-17, 21 MT in 2017-18 and 24 MT in 2020-21 as against 16.47 MT production in 2015-16 has been envisaged with a comprehensive action plan under centrally sponsored scheme of National Food Security Mission (NFSM),” an official statement said. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Ministry will jointly work on a two-pronged approach of productivity enhancement and increasing production through area expansion for meeting the shortage of pulses, he added. As regards oilseeds, he said the growth rate of edible oil consumption has increased at 4.3 per cent while the annual oilseeds output increased at about 2.2 per cent. “The country has to import more than 50 per cent of edible oil. Last year edible oils to the tune of Rs 69,717 crore were imported to meet the domestic demand,” he said. To meet the annual consumption of vegetable oil in the country by 2020 and 2025, it has been estimated that oilseed production to the tune of 86.84 MT and 93.32 MT would be required by 2020 and 2025 respectively. In order to make country self sufficient in vegetable oil, he said the productivity enhancement programme for oilseeds may also require institutional and policy support in a campaign mode besides technological support from ICAR. Singh said the ICAR is having research programmes for nine annual oilseeds crops at four commodity based research institutes. There has been a technological breakthrough in oilseeds and a number of climate resilient high yielding varieties/hybrids of oilseeds has been notified for cultivation and increasing the yield. Singh expressed confidence that by adopting the available technologies yield of nine oilseeds crops could be increased.—PTI