‘Bharat Dal’ brand: Piyush Goyal launches sale of subsidised chana dal at Rs 60 per kg

‘Bharat Dal’ brand: Piyush Goyal launches sale of subsidised chana dal at Rs 60 per kg

Subject :Geography

Section: Economic geography

Context:

• Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal launched the sale of ‘subsidised’ chana dal under the brand name ‘Bharat Dal’ at the rate of Rs 60 per kg for one kg pack and Rs 55 per kg for 30 kg pack.

Details:

• The Centre’s move to launch chana dal at a ‘subsidised’ rate comes at a time when retail prices of tur (arhar) have risen sharply.
• The all-India daily average retail price of tur (arhar) was recorded at Rs 134.48 per kg on Monday, which is 32.91 per cent higher than Rs 101.18 per kg a year ago.
• The retail prices of urad and moong are also 10-11 per cent higher as compared to their levels last year.
• Only masoor dal prices are lower than their last year’s levels.
• The milling and packaging of chana dal is undertaken by NAFED for distribution through its retail outlets in Delhi-NCR and also through the outlets of NCCF.

About Tur or Arhar Dal:

• The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), often referred to as arhar or tur dal, is a perennial legume that is indigenous to the Old World and belongs to the Fabaceae family.
• Pigeon peas are widely grown around the world in tropical and subtropical areas, and they are popular in South Asia, South East Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
• Climatic requirements:
  • In the rainy season (June to October), arhar can be cultivated at temperatures between 26 °C and 30 °C, and in the post-rainy season (November to March), at temperatures between 17 °C and 22 °C.
  • Pigeonpea flowering during the monsoon and overcast weather results in poor pod production because the plant is extremely susceptible to low radiation at the time of pod development.
  • It can be cultivated successfully on black cotton soils that are well-drained and have a pH range of 7.0 to 8.5.

Pulses in India:

Important Major Pulses Growing Zones / States in India 

Varietal Development programme of pulses got strengthened in 1967 with the initiation of All-India Co-ordinated Research Improvement Programme. Through this programme, the varieties suitable for across the country i.e. agro-climatic zones: Northern Hills Zone – J&K, Himachal Pradesh, North West of Uttar Pradesh; North West Plain Zone – Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, western Uttar Pradesh; North East Plain Zone – eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Northern Odisha; Central Zone – Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh; South Zone – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and southern Odisha have been developed.

Climatic Requirement

Pulse crops are cultivated in Kharif, Rabi and Zaid seasons of the Agricultural year. Rabi crops require mild cold climate during sowing period, during vegetative to pod development cold climate and during maturity / harvesting warm climate. Similarly, Kharif pulse crops require warm climate throughout their life from sowing to harvesting. Summer pulses are habitants of warm climate. Seed is required to pass many stages to produce seed like germination, seedling, vegetative, flowering, fruit setting, pod development and grain maturity / harvesting.

Area, Production And Yield Of Major Pulse Crops Growing States In India

There was 239 lakh ha area in India at triennium ending 2010-11, which was mainly contributed by Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. From this area, 158 lakh tonnes production of pulse was received. The major contributors of this production were Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. During this period, productivity of pulses was recorded as 661 kg / ha with highest in Punjab (905 kg/ha), Haryana (891), Bihar (839), Uttar Pradesh (823) and West Bengal (811).

NAFED:

• The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) is an organisation of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce.
• It was established on October 2 1958 under the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act.
• It was set up with the aim of promoting co-operative marketing of agricultural produce that would benefit farmers.