Progress of Pulses Improvement Work in Madra
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Author:SRI V. SRINIVASAN and Sni K. JAYABHIMA RAO
p-ISSN:0024-9602, e-ISSN:2582-5321, Vol:39, Issue:sep-sep
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.10.A04373
Abstract
Pulses form a group of food grains which play an
important role in the Indian diet, especially in Madras, which is
predominantly a rice-consuming State. They form the chief source of
protein food to vegetarians and to the poorer classes who cannot
afford the higher cost of animal protein. The pulses which are,
important in the Madras State are redgram, greengram, blackgram,
horsegram and Bengalgram. The pulse grain is mostly consumed by
human beings, while the by-products such as broken grains, husk, chaff
otc., are fed to cattle. Apart from their food value the cultivation
of these crops increases the fertility of the soil in which they
are grown, as the atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by the bacteria
present in their root nodules. In spite of their importance, work
on their improvement has not received the attention they deserve.
The total area of all the pulses in Madras is about 3 million
acres with a production of about 2-9 lakhs tons of grain. The
average consumption of pulses in the State is about 5-8 lakhs of
tons, which works out at the rate of 1 oz. per day per adult.
Dr. Aykroyd has suggested that every adult should consume a minimum
of 3 oz, of pulses a day to have a balanced diet. Even for the consumption
of 1 oz. per day the production in the State is not sufficient, and as much
as 50% of the requirements is met by imports from other States. The
following table shows the acreages, production, consumption and deficit
under each pulse in the Madras State.
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