Pulses in India: Production, Challenges and Policy (UPSC Economy)

India is the world's largest producer, consumer and importer of pulses. Yet, despite cultivating pulses on nearly 30 million hectares, domestic production has repeatedly fallen short of demand, forcing India to import 15-25% of its annual requirement. Pulses sit at the intersection of food security, farm incomes, nutrition policy and climate-resilient agriculture, making them a recurring theme in UPSC General Studies Paper III.

This guide explains the economics of pulses in India, the structural reasons for the demand-supply mismatch, the latest policy interventions announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, and the way forward to achieve atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in pulses.

What are pulses and why do they matter?

Pulses are dry edible seeds of leguminous plants – chickpea (chana), pigeon pea (arhar/tur), black gram (urad), green gram (moong), lentils (masoor) and peas. They are nutritionally dense (20-25% protein), fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, and are largely grown under rainfed conditions, making them vital for:

• Nutritional security: protein for vegetarian households
• Soil health: biological nitrogen fixation reduces fertiliser use
• Climate-resilient agriculture: drought-hardy, short-duration varieties
• Rainfed farming livelihoods: 87% of pulses area is rainfed, concentrated in central and southern states

Production status and geography

India produces around 24-27 million tonnes of pulses annually, cultivated on about 30 million hectares. The country accounts for roughly 35% of global pulses area and 27% of global production. Cultivation has shifted from northern India to central and southern states: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana together account for over 90% of national output. Chickpea (chana) alone contributes about 45% of total pulses production.

The crop is grown in two principal seasons – kharif (tur, urad, moong) and rabi (chana, masoor) – with rabi accounting for the majority of output.

Demand-supply mismatch and import dependence

Per capita pulses consumption in India has risen with growing incomes, urbanisation and greater health consciousness. Domestic demand has run ahead of production, and India imports pulses worth Rs 15,000-20,000 crore in a typical year, mainly from Canada, Myanmar, Australia and Mozambique. Import dependence is highest in tur (pigeon pea) and urad (black gram).

The sector also follows a classic cobweb cycle: when prices spike, farmers over-plant in the next season, the market is flooded, prices crash, farmers then under-plant, and prices spike again. This cyclical volatility every 2-3 years has made price stabilisation a persistent policy challenge.

Structural challenges in the pulses economy

Yield gap

The yield gap between research stations and farmers' fields is 45-50% for pigeon pea and green gram. Reasons include:

• Low seed replacement rate (SRR below 25% in most states)
• Limited availability of high-yielding, short-duration, wilt-resistant varieties
• Broadcasting instead of line sowing, and minimal mechanisation
• Weak extension services at the block level

Cultivation on marginal lands

The Green Revolution pushed pulses out of irrigated plains into marginal, sub-marginal lands with poor fertility and unreliable monsoons. Around 84% of the pulses area is rainfed, which exposes the crop to drought, heat stress and erratic rainfall – often causing 50% seed yield loss in arid and semi-arid regions.

Ineffectiveness of MSP

Though the government announces a Minimum Support Price for 23 crops including six pulses, procurement machinery is geared towards wheat and rice. Pulses procurement rarely exceeds 20-25% of marketed surplus, and farmers in states like Maharashtra and Karnataka frequently sell at prices well below MSP during a bumper harvest.

Price volatility

The cobweb phenomenon, combined with opaque import policies (sudden zero-duty imports during price spikes), has made pulses one of the most volatile commodity segments in the CPI basket.

Government initiatives

• National Food Security Mission (NFSM) – Pulses: aims to raise pulses production by targeted area expansion, seed distribution and technology transfer. The mission has been split into NFSM-Pulses and NFSM-Pulses+ for districts with sub-national average yields.
• PM-AASHA (Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan): umbrella scheme combining the Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Deficiency Payment Scheme and Pilot of Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme.
• Buffer Stock of Pulses: built and managed by NAFED and FCI to stabilise prices.
• Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF): used for market intervention during price shocks.
• MSP hikes: the 2024-25 MSP for tur was raised to Rs 7,550/quintal, masoor to Rs 6,700/quintal and chana to Rs 5,650/quintal.

Latest developments (2024-26)

Atmanirbharta in Pulses Mission, Budget 2025-26: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a six-year mission for self-reliance in pulses, with a special focus on tur, urad and masoor. NAFED and NCCF will procure these three pulses from registered farmers at MSP for four years, removing the 25% procurement cap that had earlier constrained PM-AASHA.

Price stabilisation measures: To curb retail inflation in 2024, the government extended duty-free imports of tur and urad up to March 2025 and continued stock-limit monitoring through the Essential Commodities Act mechanism for wholesalers and importers.

Seed infrastructure: Budget 2025-26 also announced a National Mission on High-Yielding Seeds, covering pulses varieties developed by ICAR institutes such as IIPR Kanpur.

PLI and processing linkages: Though the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for food processing focuses on branded items, dal milling under the PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme is improving post-harvest value addition.

MPI 2024 context: NITI Aayog‘s Multidimensional Poverty Index 2024 highlighted nutritional deprivation in states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh – reinforcing the case for expanding pulses availability through the PDS and ICDS.

16th Finance Commission: farm-sector states have urged the 16th FC (which will cover 2026-31) to earmark tied grants for pulses-specific irrigation, seed hubs and storage, arguing that MSP alone cannot close the demand-supply gap.

Road ahead

• Bridge the yield gap: expand seed hubs, raise SRR to 35%, and promote line sowing and zero-till machines.
• Post-harvest infrastructure: cut the 20-30% post-harvest loss through modern dal mills, silos and cold storage near farmgate.
• Restructure MSP operations: guarantee unconstrained procurement for tur, urad and masoor, as announced in Budget 2025-26, and extend similar treatment to moong.
• Stabilise trade policy: move to a predictable, tariff-based import regime instead of frequent zero-duty notifications that depress domestic prices.
• Climate adaptation: breed short-duration, drought-tolerant varieties and integrate pulses into watershed and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) command areas.

UPSC Relevance

• GS III (Agriculture): cropping patterns, MSP, procurement, e-NAM, PM-AASHA, food processing linkages.
• GS III (Economy): food inflation management, import dependence, trade policy, Budget 2025-26 announcements.
• Prelims pointers: NFSM-Pulses, PM-AASHA components, NAFED/NCCF role, six pulses under MSP, Atmanirbharta in Pulses Mission 2025.
• Essay/Ethics angles: nutritional security vs farmer incomes; cooperative federalism in procurement.

Likely questions: "Discuss the structural reasons for India's persistent import dependence on pulses despite being the world's largest producer. Evaluate the Atmanirbharta in Pulses Mission announced in Union Budget 2025-26." (GS III, 250 words, 15 marks)