Pulses and the push for self-reliance

The Union Cabinet’s approval of a six-year central scheme called Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses is a step towards self-sufficiency in an important area of food consumption. The mission, announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman in this year’s budget, is being given a concrete plan with a financial outlay of Rs 11,440 crore. It will focus on increasing production of tur (pigeon pea), urad (black gram), and masur (lentil) with assured procurement by government agencies. It has a target of increasing pulses production to 350 lakh tonnes by 2030-31 from 242 lakh tonnes in 2023-24. It also proposes to increase the cultivation area to 310 lakh hectares from 242 lakh hectares, and the yield to 1,130 kg per hectare from 881 kg per hectare.

India is the largest producer of pulses in the world, but it is also the largest importer. Though the country accounts for 27.4% of the global production, it imported 7.3 million tonnes of pulses last year. The imports accounted for almost 18% of the domestic consumption – this necessitates an increase in production. Both production and productivity have lagged because pulses are grown on marginal lands with little irrigation or fertiliser use. It has the lowest yield among the top 10 producers, at just 0.74 tonne per hectare. India could be almost self-sufficient in pulses if it achieves the global average yield. Structural limitations related to irrigation, climate, etc., need to be addressed to augment production.

Increasing the acreage through the use of rice-fallow lands and intercropping pulses with sugarcane are among the ideas to be pursued by the mission, which will be implemented on a cluster-based model in 416 targeted districts. It also plans to prioritise research, seed development, and development of climate-resilient varieties. The initial plan is to distribute 12.6 million quintals of certified seeds and 8.8 million free seed kits to farmers and bring an additional 35 lakh hectares under cultivation. This expansion of cultivation and assured procurement of the main varieties of pulses is expected to incentivise farmers to shift from paddy to pulses. Challenges such as post-harvest losses and inadequate storage remain. These issues must be prioritised because pulses are difficult to store. The mission plans to set up 1,000 processing and packaging units to address these concerns. An ambitious plan has been set in motion for a pulse revolution in the country. It will need strong internal processes to tackle challenges in implementation, which are a given for a programme of this scale.