122 pc increase in Pulses cultivation in Chhattisgarh

            Raipur, August 19, 2008: After a successful crop diversification drive in Chhattisgarh, the cultivation of pulses and oil seeds have increased by 122 per cent in the state in the last four years, officials said today.

            After a sustained campaign for crop diversification in several parts of the state, this year the target of cultivation of pulses and oil seeds are 21.16 lakh hectare, which is 122 per cent more than the 2003-2004 figures, officials said here.

            Agriculture Produce Commissioner Serjius Minj also told the ChhattisgarhTopNews.Com that Chhattisgarh has a mono-crop pattern of cultivation and due to lack of sufficient irrigation facilities it was not giving proper cost of return to the investment for cultivation of paddy.

            Looking into that situation there was a sustained campaign in some areas for crop diversification from paddy to pulses and oilseeds and that yielded good results, Minj said.

Meanwhile, officials said in the year 2003-2004, the state had an oil seeds and pulses cultivation area of 12.54 lakh hectares, out of which in 9.59 lakh hectors had pulses and 2.95 lakh hectors area had oil seeds.

            This figure went up to 20.37 laky hectors last year, out of which in 13.80 lakh hectare areas had pulses and in 6.57 lakh hectares area had oil seeds cultivations, the officials said.

In the current kharif season the pulses cultivation would be 4.95 lakh hectares and in Rabi season it would be 9.4 lakh hectares, where as 3.51 lakh hectares area would have oil seeds cultivation and 3.3 lakh hectares during Rabi seasons, they said.