Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles and Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal has expressed happiness at the rise in the production and quality of Agriculture products to make India self-sufficient and for also enabling export of over $50 billion of agri-related products. Goyal said this during his address at NAFED: Pulse 2024 Convention organized by Global Pulse Confederation in co-operation with co-operative major National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).
Goyal thanked the farmers of India for their contribution towards making India self-sufficient and making the country a large producer of food grains, pulses, lentils, vegetables, fruits. He said that this has led to expansion both in production and quality of different food products to make India an exporter of over $50 billion of agri and related products. He said that over the last decade due to the commitment and capabilities of the farmers, pulses production has grown by 60% from 171 lakh tonnes in 2014 to 270 lakh tonnes in 2024.
“The partnership between NAFED and GPC will continue to grow to make pulses not only India’s wonder-diet but to make the wonder-diet of the world”, said Piyush Goyal.
Speaking on Bharat Dal, the Minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the government launched the India pulse to support the farmers of the country and ensure the availability of reasonably-priced pulses for Indian citizens. He said that the government-procured chana dal retailed under the ‘Bharat’ brand has already captured 25% of the market share of lentil gram in four months of its launch. The Union Minister, further elaborated, that the high ratings the Bharat Dal has received from customer reviews on various e-commerce sites demonstrates the farmers’ ability to produce high-quality pulses and with the support of the government can become the affordable food for the common man. Goyal also said that over the last decade government procurement of pulses has increased by 18 times.
Goyal noted that in 2015 the government introduced buffer stock to ensure moderate prices and price stability shielding the consumers from the food inflation that hit many countries including the developed world reeling with a 40-year high of inflation. “India was the bright spot with among the lowest inflation rates and has been able to reign in double digit inflation to 5-5.5% in the last decade”, he said.
On Minimum Support Price (MSP), Goyal said that MSP today assures a price 50% over the actual cost of production to our farmers, thereby providing an attractive return on investment. The Union Minister also said that the MSP is the highest today with increases as high as 117% in Masoor, 90% in Moong, 75% more in chana dal, 60% more in Toor and Urad over the amount provided a decade back. Goyal further said that NAFED and NCCF are encouraging farmers to diversify into pulses and lentils and are willing to provide assured prices for 5-year contracts for government procurement, a massive step for the Government of India.
Goyal also stated that India is the largest producer and 5th largest exporter of millets in the world and the government is also putting similar focus on pulses and lentils as with millets and urged the industry leaders in attendance to provide suggestions and guidance to improve productivity and grow the pulse industry.
