NEW DELHI: Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat are planting pulses this kharif season, largely urad, arhar and moong because of better prices and concerns of cotton crop failure in North West India, while in Gujarat it was delay in monsoon rains, say farmers.
The area under pulses rose to 26.9% from the past week and 39.39% over the previous year in the same period to 90.17 lakh hectares till July 22. The industry expects a substantial increase in planting.
Vikas Rai, a farmer from village Nihalkhera, in Fazilka district of Punjab, has planted arhar for the first time on 30 acres of his 150-acre land where he usually grows cotton. "Planting arhar is a good option as it does not require lot of water. It takes five months to be harvested, similar to cotton and prices much more remunerative," he said. The minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Centre for tur/arhar is Rs 5,050 per quintal, an increase of 9.2% over that of last year, while for moong it has been increased 7.7% at Rs 5,225 (including Rs 425 of bonus) and urad at Rs 5,000 a quintal, an increase of 8.1%.
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