Need for cultivation of pulse

Bangladesh has achieved a remarkable progress in growing rice, our staple food. Beside rice, potato and vegetables are also grown in enough quantity to meet the country's demand. A lion's share of the credit goes to the farmers along with government agencies like the Ministry of Agriculture, Agriculture Extension Department, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Bank and other commercial banks which have been supporting farmers to grow these crops and more.
Bangladesh has to pay more attention to produce different varieties of pulses now, as pulse is a common item in our everyday meals. Every year a huge quantity of different variety of pulses are imported to meet our requirement at the cost of valuable foreign exchange. The soil and topography of Bangladesh are suitable for cultivation of different varieties of pluses, like Mushur, Moog, Mashkalay, Orohor, Motor, Kheshari etc. And we must bear in our mind that the price of pulses in domestic market is rising every day.
 Mushur dal (lentil) is the most popular pulse over here. But lentil aggravates acidity problem in human body that ultimately leads to ulcer, one of the most common diseases in Bangladesh. The government may not encourage growing of lentil, but incentives should be offered for growing other pulses.
The government and its concerned agencies should undertake special projects to cater to the growing demand for pulses. If the authorities concerned pay proper attention to this field, Bangladesh will definitely be able to save a lot of scarce foreign exchange spent on import of pulses.

Md. Ashraf Hossain                                                                                                              
120, Central Bashaboo, Dhaka-1214.
mah120cb@yahoo.com