Bhubaneswar: Technological intervention to increase the production of pulses in a scientific manner is the need of the hour, felt scientists.

More than 30 experts from various agriculture universities and research institutions under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the central department of biotechnology, attended a meeting organised by the Institute of Life Sciences and the department here.

S.R. Rao, the department's senior adviser, called for science and technology-based interventions to improve productivity of pulses with an overall objective to enhance farmers' income in rain-fed areas. "We should emphasise on a joint and co-ordinated approach to work in the area of genetic resources, genomics and breeding for improved quality," he said.

Institute of Life Sciences director Ajay Parida said pulses, particularly black gram, green gram, horse gram and rice bean, which were widely cultivated earlier no longer find a place these days.

"In India's eastern regions and non-irrigated lands, these crops could be cultivated profitably if we could develop drought, salinity and high-temperature resistant varieties with superior productivity and quality traits," he said.

National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources director Kuldeep Singh and Indian Institute of Pulses Research director T.P. Singh asked researchers to focus on pulses of particular relevance to dry conditions.

Institute for Bioresources director Dinabadnu Sahoo spoke on the diversity of pulses in the northeastern regions and emphasised on undertaking systematic studies on them.

Indian Agricultural Research Institute joint director K. V. Prabhu and National Plant Genome Institute scientist Sabhyata Bhatia also spoke on the occasion.