ANKARA, 4 July 2016: On the joint proposal of Pakistan and Turkey, the 68th United Nations General Assembly declared the year 2016 as the “International Year of Pulses (IYP).” The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been nominated to facilitate the implementation of the Year in collaboration with Governments, relevant organizations and other relevant stakeholders.
To commemorate the IYP, Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock of the Republic of Turkey hosted an Iftar featuring a variety of dishes prepared from pulses. Government officials, agriculture producers, food importers & exporters and representatives of UN organizations and diplomatic missions attended the event.
The IYP 2016 is aimed at public awareness of the nutritional benefits of pulses as part of sustainable food production with the objective of food security and nutrition. The Year will create a unique opportunity to encourage connections throughout the food chain that would better utilize pulse-based proteins, further global production of pulses, better utilize crop rotations and address the challenges in the trade of pulses.
The 30th Session of the FAO Conference for Europe and Central Asia held in Antalya on 4-6 May 2016 discussed various activities planned for IYP.
More information about IYP from
http://www.fao.org/pulses-2016/en/