Banda administration, under the leadership of District Magistrate Heera Lal is organising the first ever conference on Arhar (pigeon pulses) on Monday, February 10, 2020. The objective of the conference is to discuss and deliberate on the ways of doubling income of the district’s farmers.
The venue of the Arhar Conference is Kalinjar, which is known for its historical significance and rock sculptures. Hundreds of farmers and traders from nearby districts in Uttar Pradesh, including Kanpur, is expected to participate in the conference.
Speaking on the objective and theme of the conference, Heera Lal says, “The objective of the conference is to deliberate on how pulses produced by farmers can find markets and reach super markets so that their income could be doubled by 2022, as decided by the state government.”
He also added, “Apart from agriculture and mandi parishad’s representatives, agriculture scientists from the country’s various institutes are participating in the Arhar Conference. The pulses are no less than a boon for the water-stressed Bundelkhand because these crops require little water for irrigation.”
Located in the Bundelkhand area of Uttar Pradesh, Banda is the major pulse cultivating region. Arhar is cultivated over an area of 17,753 hectares, which is more than 15 percent of its total Kharif area while ‘chana’ or gram pulses is grown on 91,110 hectares of land accounting for 36 percent of total Rabi crop cultivation area.
The United Nations celebrates February 10 as the ‘International Pulses Day’ to highlight the contribution of pulses to sustainable food production and towards food security and nutrition.
