Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has proposed to promote 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas for increasing crop productivity and strengthening market linkages.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2011-12 in the Lok Sabha today, Shri Mukherjee said, government’s initiative on pulses received a positive response from the farmers. As per the second Advance Estimates, a record production of 165 lakh tones of pulses is expected this year as against 147 lakh tones last year. Shri Mukherjee proposed to provide an amount of Rs 300 crore to promote 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas.

Promotion of pulses villages to boost productivity and strengthen market linkages through targeted budgetary rural support. The Union Budget proposes to promote 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas to increase pulses crop productivity and strengthen market linkages, deploying a centrally funded programme with a dedicated appropriation to support productivity-enhancing interventions and market access measures that convert positive production estimates into sustained farmer uptake and resilience.