Attaining self-sufficiency

More interventions needed to boost pulses output

Along with addressing food-security concerns, increased production of pulses can help India address environmental challenges to some extent. The government recently stated its objective of achieving self-sufficiency in pulses by the end of 2027. In this context, the central government launched a tur dal procurement portal, through which farmers can register and sell their produce to the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF). This will give farmers the option to sell either to Nafed/NCCF at the minimum support price (MSP) or in the open market. The government also hopes to launch similar facilities for urad and masoor dal procurement in the future. The move will help insure farmers against variability in market prices.
 

Import bills for pulses have traditionally remained high in India. Recent government initiatives have moved India in the direction of self-sufficiency. India’s imports of pulses have come down from a high of 6.61 million tonnes (mt) in 2016-17 to 2.7 mt in 2021-22, and further to 2.52 mt in 2022-23. The imports have declined essentially on the back of a sharp decline in the import volumes of yellow peas (matar) and chickpea (chana) over the past 10 years, owing to high import duties and procurement. For other pulses, though, the situation has been different. The country is reported to have imported 2.9 mt of masur (lentils), tur (pigeon pea), and urad (black gram) in 2023, compared to 2 mt in 2022. Efforts have to be made to reduce the import of masur, urad, tur, and other pulses, but the government should avoid a sharp surge in domestic prices.
 

Pulses are regarded as a comparatively inexpensive source of dietary fibres and plant-based proteins, making them ideal for addressing protein deficiency. From an agricultural point of view, multiple cropping systems that include pulses enhance soil fertility due to their ability to fix nitrogen in the soil. They also have a very low water footprint and are suitable for cultivation in rain-deficient regions or areas suffering from depleting groundwater. Notably, India is the largest producer, consumer, and importer of pulses in the world. However, the country suffers from low per capita availability and poor yields. The low yield arises mainly from those being grown in marginal and sub-marginal lands with low input usage. Improving land acreage and productivity should therefore be a priority.
 

Since pulses already account for around 20 per cent of the area under food grains, there isn’t much scope to increase land under production. Still, diversion from paddy must be encouraged in water-deficient states such as Punjab. Haryana, for instance, has appealed to farmers to adopt crop-diversification strategies and sow pulses instead of paddy. There have also been several sharp hikes in the minimum support prices (MSPs) of different varieties of pulses. Higher MSPs, backed by procurement, could incentivise farmers to shift to pulses, resulting in higher availability and consumption at reasonably stable prices. Price support and procurement may not be enough, though. The government would have to release stocks in a timely manner because pulses are difficult to store and their shelf life is shorter than that of wheat and rice.