PAKISTAN imports pulses and gram (chickpea) to meet its consumption needs. Domestic production of these crops, particularly masur (lentil) and mash, is low because of the use of poor quality seed and an increasing tendency among growers to sow other cash crops, such as cotton.

This gap between output and consumption keeps widening, leading to an inflated import bill, which almost touched $1 billion during the previous fiscal year.

The increase in the bill was not just because of higher import price, but also due to a rise in the quantity of exports.

To arrest this trend and ensure national food security, Punjab’s agriculture authorities came up with a three-year plan (2014-16) to promote the sowing of pulses in the province.

Under the plan, research institutions developed high-yielding seed varieties for the Punjab Seed Corporation (PSC), which then supplied certified seeds to growers at subsidised rates.

Another objective of the project was to transfer modern production technology through farmer training programmes and demonstration plots in each tehsil.

Key performance indicators set for the project on the basis of a benchmark survey conducted by the Planning and Evaluation Cell of the Agriculture Department included increasing the crop area of masur by 30 per cent, moong 16pc and mash 30pc in the union councils surrounded by the demonstration plots.

An increase in yield, 30pc each for masur and mash and 20pc for moong pulse, was also expected as a result of the use of better seeds under the programme.

The Pulses Research Institute developed the basic seed of masur (weighing about 1,550kg) and provided it to the PSC for multiplication during the year 2014-15.

The PSC sowed the seed at its different farms in April 2015, but it could only produce 5,300kg certified seed of masur instead of 30,840kg, the target for 2015-16, according to an official document.

Similarly, the target for 2016-17 was 45,840kg, but the authority could only produce 11,000kg. Therefore, the shortfall for both the years now stands at 60,380kg.

Similarly, research institutes developed 2,292kg of basic seed of mash during 2015-16 and handed it over to the PSC for multiplying the quantity to 45,840kg, but it failed to meet this target too.

A senior agriculture department official, who declined to be named, lamented that the PSC failed to meet the targets despite the fact that the period was extended to September, by which time it had to supply around 67,000kg seed of masur and mash each.

The government may extend the project period up to June, though there are dim chances that the PSC could meet the seed target.

The official said the issue was raised with the provincial government after which it has sought a report from the PSC’s managing director.

Meanwhile, Dr Muhammad Aslam, agricultural economist and architect of the pulses promotion project, says delayed execution of the project has also affected the provision of latest machinery — for sowing and harvesting pulses — to growers.

He says that the line sowing drill for pulses costs Rs80,000 in the market, and during each project year one drill per tehsil (total 272 drills) were to be provided to farmers at a 50pc subsidy in the first and 33pc subsidy in the second year.

Farmers having tractors and land measuring five to 25 acres were to be selected for the provision of drills for line sowing.

He says the government has also been asked to announce support prices for pulses and ensure their procurement through public-sector entities, such as the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation and the Punjab Food Department, for motivating farmers to bring more and more area under pulses cultivation for a sustainable increase in their production and supplies.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 18th, 2017