OPM-I - Variety, Technology and Seed System Development for Pulses in Odisha - Odisha Pulse Mission

There is a large extent of Rabi fallows/rice fallows and an urgent need for locally suitable pulse crops, varieties and adequate quality seeds. The Seed/Variety replacement ratio is also very low, hence there is low pulse productivity and production in the State. There is a lack of proper land preparation technology, weed, disease, and crop management practices. Plus, the nutritional value of pulses needs fortification with Fe/Zn/Ca/Mg/S/Se.

- Farmer participatory variety selection (FPVS): Evaluate selections/varieties and in SAU/Farmers field for Chickpea –10 germplasm, 4 nurseries (139 entries), 6 var; Grasspea – 4 nurseries (112 entries), 3 varieties; Greengram - 102 varieties (10 new varieties for farmers); Blackgram – 66 varieties (8 new varieties for farmers); Lentil - 12 germplasm, 2 nurseries (72 entries), 3 varieties; and Fababean - 2 nurseries, 36 entries; - Seed system: 4 numbers of Village Seed Hubs (VSH) to procure 65 quintal quality seed (training and capacity building), Business Plans made for VSHs; - Technology upscaling: Pulse productivity in project villages increased by 42% (crop cutting results over pre-project assessment), Pulse cropped area increased in all project villages, Rice fallow areas brought under cultivation, New varieties and advanced lines have shown better performance than other HYVs as per trial by SSTL, Chickpea variety trials at OUAT selected elite lines and taken for multi-locational trials, Lentil, Chickpea and Grasspea showed good performance in rice fallow conditions, 2% DAP spray widely accepted as yield increased up to 20%, One irrigation at pod formation stage resulted in 20-25% more pods per plant, Zero-Tillage sowing showed good results for black gram, chickpea and lentil, CHC (custom hiring center) with ZT and other equipment promoted; - Project outreach: Varietal evaluation with NARS (SAU/Research Stations/SSTL), and variety and technology upscaling in 144 villages, 3809 farmers, 2505 hectares.

The project aim and research activities are fundamentally oriented at capacity development for enhancing agricultural sustainability and pulse crop yield. India is spending a lot of energy to import products that can produce by itself. For this reason by the use of new and developed systems the intention is to increase the production of pulse crop by 30% and reduce malnutrition and protein deficiency in that areas. The project focuses on farmer field replication of seeds in a cluster of plots, maintain seed hubs at the village level, and subsequent supply to other farmers and state seed system. Also, the extension of the pulse crop cultivated area and the improvement of crop management practices will help to achieve the desired result. The project would deliver training to various stakeholders in partnership with local and state and regional stations, as required.