Farmers concerned as curbs on pulse imports lifted

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh General Secretary Badri Narayan Chaudhary held a virtual press conference and said the Central government should reconsider its decision.

New Delhi:Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) on Wednesday raised concerns over the Centre's decision to remove restrictions imposed on the import of pulses, terming it inappropriate.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has removed the restrictions imposed on the import of pulses including Pigeon pea (Toor), Mung bean (Moong) and Vigna Mungo (Urad).

On Wednesday, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh General Secretary Badri Narayan Chaudhary held a virtual press conference and said the Central government should reconsider its decision.

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He said the pulses are Kharif crops and the time for sowing them has come.

The decision has caused concern among farmers as there is a possibility that they might not get a fair price for their crops due to the imported pulses, he added.

The government speaks of making India self-reliant but does not take steps in the same direction. India is almost self-reliant in the production of pulses but the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's latest decision has raised doubts, Chaudhary stated.

Claiming that the import of pulses will affect the government's self-reliance model, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh demanded the Centre to immediately withdraw the decision.

Meanwhile, IFFCO has also increased chemical fertilizer prices by one and a half times for 2020-21 from May, causing disappointment among the farmers.

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The price of a 50 kg bag of DAP has risen to Rs 1900 from Rs 1200.

Although the Ministry of Fertilizers stated that the companies manufacturing chemical fertilizers cannot sell them at increased prices amid crisis, but the ground reality is that the dealers are charging farmers huge amount as they are getting fertilizers at increased rates.

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh has also demanded a clarification of this issue from the government.

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