The country will have record production of Arhar pulses this Kharif season. In an exclusive interview to AIR, Agriculture Secretary, P.K.Basu said that additional two million hectares of land have been brought under pulses cultivation this year. This, he said is the result of remunerative prices given to farmers by the government for the procurement of pulses. Mr. Basu said that the government has also launched a multi pronged strategy to increase the production of pulses to bridge the gap between the supply and demand of one lakh tonnes. In reply to a question, he said that the government constituted a high level committee headed by Yogendra Alagh to suggest long and medium term measures to increase productivity of pulses. The report will be submitted by the committee before the end of this year.Mr. Basu said, the private sector has also involved itself in a big way in this sector and some of the companies are performing extremely well. He added since the government is importing pulses, it is also exploring the possibility of taking land out side the country for their cultivation. AIR correspondent reports that government strategy to increase the production of pulses assumes importance in the wake of last year's high rate of inflation in pulses due to supply constraints.