Uttam Kumar

Agriculture remains the key sector for the economic development for most developing countries. It is critically important for ensuring food security, alleviating poverty and conserving the vital natural resources that the world's present and future generations will be entirely dependent upon for their survival and well-being. The world populations will inevitably double by the middle of the twenty first century, that we are soon to enter, that is in the space of just two generations. Over 90% of the developing nations, especially in Asia and to an ever greater extent will be in the urban areas (Rothschild, 1998). The area under pulses crops in India during 2011-12 is around 23.63 million ha with production of 14.76 million tonnes and productivity of about 625 kg ha-1 (Anonymous 2011). In the last decade, seasonal pulse production has increased from 12 million tonnes in 1991-92 to 14.50 million tonnes during with a compound growth of 1.4% annually. Average yield of Kharif pulses has increased substantially from 533 to 630 kg ha-1 with compound growth of 1.52 %, while area under Rabi pulses has been static at 11.3 million ha.