Post Harvest Losses in Pulses of Uttarakhand

Pulses on account of their vital role in nutritional security and soil ameliorative properties have been an integral part of sustainable agriculture since ages. However the production of pulses in Uttarakhand has drastically came down in the period, 1990–91 to 2007–08. The pulses data of Government of Uttarakhand, directorate of Agriculture, 2008, shows that the winter pulses (lentil and chickpea) area declined in this period 5 thousand hectare. The Production has declined up to 5.78 and 1.41 thousand metric tonnes in lentil and chickpea, respectively. The productivity has declined -2.19 qt/ha in chickpea and -2.15 qt/ha in lentil. In rainy legumes, the area, production and productivity of pigeon pea has remained almost static while in black gram the production and productivity has positive trend due to increase in area during the period 1990–91 – 2007–08.

Non availability of HYV seeds and lack of knowledge about the recently developed and released improved seed varieties compel the farmer to use their own stored seed for the next season which have stored in traditional way. Use improper and insufficient method of seed storage result storage losses, germination losses and poor plant stand and as a result reduces in yield.

The entire Assn Valley which is the part of Doon valley of Uttarakhand was selected for the study. The sample was randomly taken of 275 cultivars producing or not producing pulses. The study was conducted with the help of unstructured qualitative questionnaire and followed by a structured questionnaire. The adoption of various technologies will certainly enhance the socio economic life of farmers of Uttarakhand.