LAHORE: The government has decided to purchase 50,000 tonnes of the mung bean produce to keep its prices stable in the open market.

An official of the National Food Security and Research told Dawn that the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) would be tasked with making the procurement.

Pakistan has achieved self-sufficiency in the mung bean production, as the first estimate of the Punjab Crop Reporting Service reports production of 253,000 tonnes of the pulse in the province for 2021-22. The total national consumption of the legume is 180,000 tonnes annually and the harvest this Kharif season is 30pc more than the need.

The early-maturing legume that may be harvested 60 days after sowing the mung bean is grown on 130,000 hectares in the country, mostly in Punjab. Thal desert districts of Khushab, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Layyah and Jhang, and barani (rain-fed) districts of Chakwal, Jhelum, Attock, and Rawalpindi as well as Narowal are major producers of mung bean, which may be used as a catch crop in the wheat and rice systems.

Agriculture (Extension) Director Gene­ral Dr Anjum Ali Buttar says Punjab has broken all records by producing 252,690 tonnes of mung bean. The import of various pulses by Pakistan has grown by around 10.5pc year-on-year.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2021