Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), under its pulses development initiatives, provided subsidized seeds of different beans to over 41,705 farmers across the pulses production areas in the country during 2020-21. The seeds of different pulses were provided to local farmers on 50pc subsidy, aimed at enhancing per-acre output of different pulses for attaining self-sufficiency in leguminous production, said Dr Muhammad Mansoor Joyia, National Coordinator (Food Legumes) Plant Sciences Division of PARC. He said that the other objective of the initiative was to reduce the reliance on imported pulses, which were consuming billions of dollars annually, besides increasing farm income of small-scale growers to promote rural economy. He said that under the program, a national pulses policy framework was developed, besides organizing three stakeholders traveling seminars for creating awareness among the potential growers, adding that machinery specialized for pulses production was also distributed among the farmers across four provinces. He said that after the commencement of the program, about 12 portable irrigation systems were also provided to farmers, besides releasing 15 varieties of different pulses.