India needs long-term policy measures, incentives for self-sufficiency in pulses

New Delhi [India], August 14 : India's growing demand for protein-rich diets has led to an increase in pulse consumption, but the country still relies heavily on imports to meet its domestic requirements.
Despite being a significant producer of pulses, India's production has not kept pace with demand, leading to a rise in imports. The imports are done from Myanmar, Australia, Russia, Canada, and besides from some African countries.
Pulses production in India has increased from 16.3 million tonnes during 2015-16 to 24.5 million tonnes during 2023-24, but the demand also went up to the tune of 27 million tonnes now.
But, despite various measures by the government to attain Atmanirbharta or self-sufficiency in pulses, imports are rising. In quantity terms, the imports were to the tune of 47 lakh tonne in 2023-24, as per industry estimates, with shipments of masur and yellow peas rising more than normal.
India primarily consumes chana, masur, urad, kabuli chana, and tur. Among the pulses basket, tur, urad, and masur have a production deficit.
India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), a key industry body, pegs pulses imports at 40-45 lakh tonne in the current financial year to meet the demand-supply gap.
As per available data, India imported pulses to the tune of 24.66 lakh tonnes in 2020-21; 26.99 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 and 24.96 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.
Experts suggest that India needs long-term policy measures and incentives to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses. The current incentive structure favours paddy and wheat cultivation, making it challenging for farmers to switch to pulses.
Eminent agriculture economist and chair professor for agriculture at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, Ashok Gulati recently said, India may have to import 80-100 lakh tonne pulses by 2030 if the current policy remains unchanged.
"Going by the current policy and it continues so, India will have to import 80-100 lakh tonne pulses...Self-sufficiency can be achieved through the right policy decisions," Gulati said.
Hence, there is a strong need for innovative policy formulation so that crops other than paddy, such as pulses, oilseeds, millets, and even kharif maize, also receive similar support.
Current, policies largely favour paddy and wheat cultivation, as these commodities attract power and fertilizer subsidies, varying from state to state. Also, paddy and wheat are bought in bulk at the Minimum Support Price, and farmers cultivating them are almost assured that their produce will be bought straight after the harvest.
The absence of MSPs for other crops including pulses makes farmers vulnerable, often leaving them to the whims of the market.
Ashok Gulati suggested that the incentives that are given to paddy, and to some extent wheat farmers, should also be given to pulses farmers to attain self-sufficiency.
"A crop-neutral incentive structure, meaning all crops must get similar incentives, is needed. At this point, pulses are being subjected to step-motherly treatment...," Gulati said.
An adjustment in the production basket is the need of the hour, he emphasized, adding that the time was over since the green revolution had already attained self-sufficiency in grains. Also, he suggested that pulses farmers - particularly in Punjab and Haryana where paddy and wheat are grown at scale, must get some incentive assurance from the state and central government at least for five years for producing pulses.
Diversification from paddy-wheat cycle to pulses and oilseeds would also reduce India's fertilizer subsidy outgo, said Gulati.
Paddy, and to some extent wheat, offer greater financial returns, and hence farmers are stuck in the water-guzzling paddy-wheat cycle for decades.
Industry bodies like the India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) emphasize the need for policy clarity and long-term visibility. They suggest that the government's "firefighting" approach and frequent policy changes hinder planning and sustainability.
Bimal Kothari, Chairman of IPGA, said his association asked for policy clarity. He said that the government has put out as many as 13 policy notifications since 2023.
"In the past 5 years, the government had put out about 80 notifications. Think what would happen to traders? Do you think such a short-term policy can sustain the demand for proteins that is growing?" Kothari said, adding that the government largely deals through a "firefighting" approach and has no long-term policy measures.
"A long-term policy and a vision is needed...It's a challenge...," he noted, seeking policy certainty and long-term visibility from the government.
Over the past months, the government has extended duty-free imports of yellow peas a few times, which the industry believes is hampering their planning and that of the farmers of the exporting nations.
On the positive side, the industry said the government has timely intervened - by exempting duty on chana, and giving a signal to the chana farmers of the exporting countries so that could sow more for India's needs.
India's pulses market size (only raw materials) is estimated at Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
Rahul Chauhan, Director of IGrain India, a leading agri commodity research firm, said that the government aims for self-sufficiency in pulses, but currently seems impossible without long-term incentives.
"It's farmers who decide what to grow and what not. A majority of farmers check prices before sowing and during sales. Talking about good seeds, modern technology is melodious but on the ground, (the) story is different," Chauhan has said. He also touched upon GM seeds, which at present are not approved for field cultivation.
In a worst-case scenario, he added that only a bad season, due to weather vagaries, is enough to disturb supply and demand. "For example, in the case of wheat, we were self-sufficient and now the industry is asking the government to open imports. After two failed seasons in production, the whole cycle has changed," Chauhan stressed, as he called for incentivizing farmers to diversify towards pulses.
While the government has taken steps like exempting duty on chana and yellow peas, industry experts believe that more needs to be done to incentivize farmers to diversify towards pulses.
With India's pulses market size estimated at Rs 2.5 lakh crore, achieving self-sufficiency requires a comprehensive approach that addresses production, pricing, and policy support.