ISLAMABAD:World pulses day will be observed tomorrow across the globe including Pakistan, aimed at raising public awareness for better quality production of the commodity playing an important role in agriculture and food systems.
World pulses day falls in the second goal of SDGs “Zero Hunger” with a purpose to provide universal clarity about the need and importance of pulses as an organic, affordable and economic food item which not only provides sufficient nutrition, but also a handsome financial support.
Theme of World Pulses Day 2022 is “Nutritious food for Sustainable Future” for recognizing the potential of pulses to achieve 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The pulses were full of antioxidant edibles items brimming with iron, magnesium, zinc and potassium which fight against body toxin, cancer, stones in kidneys and keep the body fresh, said clinical nutritionist Inbisat Fatima Alvi on Wednesday.
Talking to reporter, she said “Pulses are only edible thing which do not have any negative effects on body even if a person suffering from any disease, but red beans come on the top due to its high nutrition value which helps promote production of fresh blood.”
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) Pulses leader, Dr Shahid Riaz, said lentils were easy to grow in Pakistan due to its ideal ecological and diversified fields. Pakistan produced huge amount of chickpea, mung bean, red beans, mash and others to fulfill its domestic needs.
“Chickpea is a major pulse crop in Pakistan with consumption of 6, 00,000 per year. There is a ban on export of pulses but the country imported around 1266 thousand tons in the year 2020-2021 including chickpea, lentil, mash and red beans” he added
Dr Shahid Riaz said the pulses industry in Pakistan was facing some challenges due to unavailability of quality seeds, climate change related biotic and abiotic stresses, low mechanization and unstable market prices, however PARC has initiated many programs to mitigate the challenges.