Pulses push: New govt mission should help reduce import dependence

The Union Cabinet’s announcement of the ₹11,440 crore “Mission for Atmanirbharta in Pulses” is both timely and necessary. Pulses are central to the country’s food security, nutritional adequacy, and environmental resilience. Yet, India remains far from self-sufficient. In 2024-25, imports surged to 7.3 million tonnes (mt), worth $5.5 billion, surpassing the previous record of 6.6 mt in 2016-17. The sharp reversal comes after years of progress, exposing structural gaps in productivity and demand management.  A recent report by the NITI Aayog on pulses underscores the scale of the problem. It projects that under normative dietary standards the country is expected to face a demand-supply gap of 15.7 mt by 2030, which will narrow to 4.5 mt by 2047. To close this gap, production must increase substantially. Productivity growth, however, has been sluggish mainly because they are grown on marginal lands with little irrigation or fertiliser use. India grows 27.4 per cent of the pulses produced in the world but has the lowest yield among the top 10 producers, at just 0.74 tonne per hectare, less than half that of countries like Ethiopia or Canada. In fact, estimates suggest that matching the global average yield alone could add 7.7 mt to India’s output.

 

The mission, over a six-year period from 2025-26 to 2030-31, does well to prioritise research, seed development, and climate-resilient varieties. It plans to distribute 12.6 million quintals of certified seeds and 8.8 million free-seed kits to farmers and bring an additional 3.5 million hectares, mainly rice-fallow areas, under pulses production. Low acreage is a problem, and utilising just one-third of rice-fallow lands in 10 states could add 2.85 mt to production. Intercropping pulses with sugarcane in states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh is also a viable option. This expansion, coupled with an assured procurement of tur (pigeon pea), urad (black gram), and masoor (lentil) at the minimum support price for the next four years, could give farmers the chance to diversify from paddy, which is water-guzzling, to pulses.

 

Past experience in India shows that production, higher minimum support prices, and procurement alone cannot solve the problem. Equally important is the push for post-harvest management. Pulses are difficult to store, with post-harvest losses averaging 5-7 per cent. Unless the government ensures the timely liquidation of stocks, inflationary spikes will remain a risk. In the past, the delayed market release of procured pulses has affected prices. The mission’s plan to set up 1,000 processing and packaging units, with subsidies up to ₹25 lakh per unit, will remain critical in reducing wastage and adding value. A NITI Aayog survey of 885 pulses farmers reveals persistent barriers in cultivation, including poor seed quality, lack of adequate credit, limited processing facilities, and vulnerability to erratic rainfall. Thus, institutional support — in the form of robust farmer-producer organisations, mechanisation, soil health intervention, and biofertiliser to enhance crop yields — are needed to scale up production. Pulses fix nitrogen in the soil, reduce dependence on chemical fertilisers, and have a far lower water footprint than rice or sugarcane. An increase in production will enhance India’s food security and reduce import dependence.