Ludhiana,
July 13
Moong cultivation, which was on decline in Punjab due to susceptibility of Moong varieties to 'yellow mosaic virus', registered an increase with the release of a new short duration moong variety SML-668, by Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana. The variety can be grown in both rabi (60-day maturity) and kharif (75-days maturity) seasons. It has reportedly yielded 5-6 qtl/acre at progressive growers' fields. Its grains are bold (bigger than the grains of earlier varieties), lustrous and very attractive.
According to Mr Kripa Shankar Saroj, Managing Director, Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation (PAFC) India, was a net importer of pulses and the pulses import costed Rs 3,000 crore last year. The PAFC, which is the nodal agency for procurement of pulses and also oilseeds in the state, will procure moong form the contract growers at the pre-determined price.
Mr Saroj said 5,000 acres of land was being brought under contract cultivation in this kharif season. There is also a plan to include gram and field peas with the PAFC's contract farming programme. This was aimed to meet pulses requirements of not only Punjab, but also of the rest of India.
Mr N.K. Sharma, senior manager, PAFC, Ludhiana, said growers like Gurdev Singh in Kaleran village, and some other farmers in Jagra had grown moong this summer and made fortune by selling the seed at the rate of Rs 25 to Rs 30 per kg. Similarly, some farmers from Utala village, Hedon in Samrala and Machhiwara area who had also grown summer moong had got 5-6 qunitals yield per acre.
Dr Tarlok Singh Sahota, an experienced agronomist with the PAFC, encouraged the Punjab growers to go in for moong-based cropping systems to improve the soil fertility and profitability from farming. He said residues of moong, after plucking the pods, could be ploughed back into the soil as a green manure.
Punjab growers were reluctant to go in for the manure crops (which meant missing one crop) due to shrinking land holdings. Dr Sahota informed that moong-based cropping systems, namely, hyola-moong-maize, hyola-moong-Basmati, moong-Basmati-barley and moong-moong-hyola required less water and fertilisers, had less cost of cultivation and improved soil health and farm profitability as compared to wheat-paddy that has threatened the sustainability of agro-ecosystem.
Dr Pandher, Chief Agriculture Officer, Ludhiana, informed that the moong seed has already been made available at block headquarters and was being distributed to the farmers. More and more farmers were approaching the agriculture district block-level offices for the moong seed. The farmers are also being educated by the department to cover maximum area under oil-seeds and pulses.
