Constraints to Production
Low Research Input: Due to lack of sufficient manpower, there has been no systematic research directed toward the improvement of various pulse crops. As a result, no significant achievements could be made for the development of improved cultivars and proper management practices to achieve higher yields. Thus the mean national yields of pulses are very poor. Research on modern seed production and postharvest technology has also not received serious attention.
Competition With Other Crops Release and cultivation of a wide array of high-yielding cereal cultivars has pushed pulse crops to marginal and submarginal lands of low productivity leading to poor yields. As a result, there has been a continuous decrease in the area and production of pulses during the last decade. Wheat and bora (winter) rice have replaced a considerable amount of the area under pulses, particularly where irrigation facilities are available. Hence the area and production of wheat and boro (winter) rice have increased during the last decade. Besides, cotton, tobacco, mustard, potato, etc. have also taken over some areas of pulses due to their high yield potential and better economic returns.
Low Response to High Inputs Because of the inherently low yield potential of the local cultivars, pulses are not usually responsive to high inputs compared to other crops. These crops are therefore grown under low levels of management in areas where there is little or no scope for the cultivation of other profitable crops.
Lack of Proper Management: 1. Pulse crops in Bangladesh are grown with minimum care and under low levels of management. Seeds are sown without proper land preparation, the optimum time of sowing is usually not maintained, and weeding, application of fertilizers, irrigation, etc. are not practiced. Moreover, these crops are susceptible to various insect pests and diseases which cause enormous damage, but no plant-protection measures are taken. All these factors are responsible for poor yields. 2. Most pulse crops are grown during the dry postrainy season under rainfed conditions on residual soil moisture with minimum tillage. Due to uncertain and low rainfall during the growing period adequate soil moisture cannot be assured. This hampers proper germination and emergence (Manalo 1978). Consequently, optimum plant stands are not established, and as a result, higher yields cannot be achieved. 3. Proper time of sowing is a key factor for maximum yield realization in all pulses. In the existing cropping pattern, chickpea and lentils are sown after the harvest of transplanted Aman (rainy-season rice), broadcast Aman or deep-water Aman rice. These crops are also raised under the pattern of aus (rainfed)rice/jute-fallow-chickpea/lentil in some parts of the country. In order to achieve higher yields, chickpea must be sown between the first and last week of November, while the optimum time of sowing for lentils is mid-October to the first week of November. When these crops are sown after the harvest of Aman rice, sometimes sowing is delayed and the late-sown crops are subjected to a high-temperature regime during the pod setting and grain filling stages, thereby shortening the grain-filling period and the maturity of the crops, and affecting their yield adversely ( B A R I 1985). 4. Grain-legume crops are capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen in association with the bacteria in their root nodules. Proper modulation is very useful for improving crop growth and increasing yields. In many countries, effective strains of rhizobia are being used for different grain-legume crops to ensure profuse nodulation and increased yields (Burton 1979). Considerable increase in yield is also obtained in different pulse crops in India by the use of microbial inoculants popularly known as biofertilizers (Subba Rao and Tilak 1977). But until recently, this technology was not made available to the farmers of Bangladesh.