ISLAMABAD: More than 269 metric tons of pulses (legumes) valued at $239,000 were exported during the financial year ended June 30, 2024, compared to exports of 50 metric tons valued at $49,000 in the corresponding period last year.
During July to June 2023-24, the export of pulses registered about 383.90% increase compared to the same period of the previous financial year, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Meanwhile, pulses imports into the country during the last financial year declined by 18.10 percent as it was recorded at 1.165 million metric tons valued at $774.959 million as against imports of 1.135 million metric tons valued at $946.176 million in the same period last year. .
To reduce dependence on imported pulses, the government has set a target to produce about 410 thousand metric tonnes of gram and 4.56 thousand metric tonnes of lentil pulses during the financial year 2024-25 to meet both domestic and exporting pulses needs.
During 2024-25, chilli is set to be cultivated over 73.40 lakh hectares as the production of the crop is fixed at over 191.10 lakh tonnes. Meanwhile, the output of other pulses including mung bean and porridge was fixed at 178.80 thousand tonnes and 8.60 metric tonnes respectively.
In the 2024-25 season, the gram crop should be grown over 865 thousand hectares, while lentils would be sown over 6.64 thousand hectares.
He said that mung bean is to be cultivated over 214.80 lakh hectares and crushed over 11.05 lakh hectares during the period under review to meet the domestic requirements of pulses.
