Pulses Farming in India

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pulses

Peas, lentils, and beans are examples of pulses. As an illustration, a pea pod is a legume, but the pea inside is a pulse. While the seeds or pulses are typically what end up on our dinner plates, the entire legume plant is frequently used in agricultural applications (as cover crops, livestock feed, or fertilizers).

four types of pulses are there:

Pulses come in a wide variety of sizes and forms and are just dried seeds from legumes. The four most popular pulses—beans, chickpeas, lentils, and peas—and some of their variants will be described, illustrated, and given common names in this book. The most popular types of pulses grown in India are gram, tur, urad, and moong – primarily lentils to make different varieties of Daal or lentil curry.

  • Beans

  • Chickpeas

  • Lentils 

  • Peas.

In India, Rajasthan has emerged as a major pulses producer. In FY 2020–21, the state will produce 4821.84 tonnes annually. The rabi season and the kharif season are when the state produces the most arhar and pulses like moong, moth, moong, and gram.

During the three seasons of the agricultural year, Kharif, Rabi, and Zaid, pulse crops are developed. Rabi crops require a somewhat cold environment during the planting phase, a cold environment for vegetative to pod improvement and a warm environment for development and reaping. Similar to how Kharif pulse crops need a warm atmosphere throughout their entire lives, from planting to harvesting. Pulses crops grow best in warm climates in the summer. To produce the final crop, a seed must pass through a number of stages, including germination, seedling development, vegetative growth, blooming, natural product setting, advanced grain development, and harvesting.

A crucial role in the agriculture sector is played by the tractor industry. Tractors from a wide range of manufacturers are available on the market to meet farmers’ needs. Ploughing, harrowing, and weed management are just a few of the functions this kind of machinery is capable of. The main purpose of this equipment is to cultivate and produce crops in a row. For crops like sunflower, potato, canola, flax, dry beans, and others, row crop tractors may be used.

Why do farmers use tractors?

In general, tractor price in India is associated with farming because farmers use them in conjunction with other equipment to perform tasks like ploughing, tilling, sowing, and harrowing. Additionally, a tractor is used to pull or push the equipment, streamlining farming operations. Bulldozers, scrapers, and diggers made of tractors are employed in agriculture, construction, road building, and other industries. The power-takeoff accessory, which is used to run stationary or drawn machinery and implements, is a noticeable trait of tractors in many applications.

Pulse farming will be mechanised starting in the Kharif season:

The Centre has changed its strategy starting with this Kharif season, giving farmers incentives to go for mechanisation through the bespoke hiring of tractors, ridge and furrow planters, and Rotavators. This is because the persistently high prices of pulses are a big concern (rotary tillers). Additionally, intercropping, the use of innovative technology, integrated nutrition management, better seeds, drip irrigation, and sprinkler irrigation are being promoted to farmers.

4,000 tractors with 35 horsepower each, and planters and rotavators are being provided to farmers in 50,000 selected villages in major pulse-growing States on a bespoke basis. The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna and the 300 crore rupees from the budget will be used to pay for the project. According to Union Agriculture Secretary P.K. Basu, “there is a felt need to promote farm machinery on a custom hiring basis to service the fields of pulses and oilseed farmers.”

The tractor and planting tools are expected to be used for 180 days out of the year, mostly in the Kharif and rabi seasons. Four hectares of land would be serviced daily by a tractor. On a no-profit, no-loss basis, custom hiring would be offered.

Pulses crop harvesting:

It involves cutting the plants as close to the ground as possible. The harvested plant needs to be dried in the sun on the sifting floor for a short period of time. The pulse crop should be physically threshed (by bashing the units with sticks) or trampled beneath the bullocks’ feet. Modern, high-tech threshers are the finest for high productivity with little waste, despite the fact that these are conventional ways of threshing. The ratio of seeds to pods in a crop of pulses is close to 20–30%. To reduce the grain moisture content to 8-9% per cent, the sifted and cleaned produce needs to be further sun-dried.

Why is cultivation so crucial?

Cultivators are used by farmers to loosen the soil’s upper surface through ploughing, to clear away undesired vegetation, and to evenly distribute fertiliser throughout the area. The purpose of a cultivator is to improve the soil’s quality prior to sowing it, as we all know that in poor soil conditions prior to cultivation, seeds cannot be successfully put in the ground. Tractorkarvan will now explain how a cultivator works. Before you sow seeds, cultivate your field to boost the fertility of the soil and the number of crops you can produce. Every farmer wants to raise healthy crops so they can earn a good amount of money.

Methods of land cultivation:

In order to increase their output on land, farmers primarily employ two cultivation techniques, which are as follows:

  • Extensive Cultivation: In extensive agriculture, farmers employ a lot of lands that are cultivated with very little labour and capital, and the amount of output generated per hectare is substantially smaller than in intensive cultivation.

  • Intensive Cultivation: Intensive cultivation is the exact opposite of wide cultivation in that farmers employ more resources—including labour, capital, and cutting-edge technology—to boost productivity. Their efforts are effective because the crop they produce is comparatively abundant.

Conclusion: 

It has been proven that minimum tillage seeding implements mounted on 2WTs may yield sufficient stands of lentils and chickpeas in Bangladesh under specific soil conditions. Since existing 2WTs do not have enough traction to operate zero tillage on heavy, hard-setting soils, strip tillage is preferred. However, in soils that dry out quickly or in soils with a plough pan layer, narrow and shallow strip tillage is ineffective. Deeper and broader strips, deeper seed placement in quickly drying soils and shallower placement in wet soils, and more efficient covering of the seed after planting are modifications that can be made to address these issues.