Three new varieties of kesari dal – Ratan, Prateek and Mahateora – have been released for general cultivation, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Thursday.

“The three varieties of kesari dal (Lathyrus sativus) or grass pea, developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in collaboration with State agriculture universities, have low p-N oxalyl- L-p-diaminopropionic acid (P-ODAP) content,” Singh said in an official release.

He said the new varieties had ODAP content in the range of 0.07-0.10 per cent, which is safe for human consumption.

Kesari dal, a key Rabi pulse crop, is mainly cultivated in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal in about 4-5 lakh hectare of area, and its annual production is about 2.8 to 3.5 lakh tonnes.

Average production

The Ministry said the average production of the dal is 650-700 kg/ha. Till the 1980s, it was being cultivated in about 10.0 lakh ha.

Singh said kesari dal, because of its hardy nature, “Is best suited for moisture stress conditions and requires fewer inputs, except quality seed, and can be successfully grown under paira (relay) cropping in rice fallow situation.” The Minister’s statement comes on the back of media reports citing an RTI reply that said the ban was being lifted after the Indian Council of Medical Research had cleared the new varieties as ‘fit for consumption’.

At a time when prices of pulses are ruling high, the Congress has accused the Centre of “playing with the health of the people”.

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