India develops three pulses varieties to cut imports, curb prices

Every year Indians consume about 22 million tonnes of lentils

India has developed three lentil varieties of a particular strain that was banned five decades ago amid concerns that it led to nerve damage and paralysis, a move aimed at stepping up local supplies to curb domestic prices and cut imports.

The government-backed Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed the lentil, popularly called pulses, variety after India agreed to lift a five-decade-old ban on the grade.

The new varieties are safe for human consumption, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said in a statement.

Annual output of khesari, the lentil variety, is estimated at 350,000 tonnes.

Every year Indians consume about 22 million tonnes of lentils used to make a thick stew called dal, commonly taken with rice or flat bread across South Asia.

About a fifth of the volume is imported from countries such as Canada, Austria and Myanmar, which grow the legumes mainly to sell to India.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters