Earlier this month, the government launched a ₹11,440 crore pulses mission with the goal to achieve self-sufficiency. This production push comes as imports soared to a record $5.5 billion in FY25. India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world. But how did farmers lose interest in legumes? Mint explains what’s at stake.
What is the new mission all about?
Following an announcement in the Union budget in February, the Cabinet on 1 October approved the Mission for Atmanirbharta (self-sufficiency) in pulses. The scheme’s duration is six years, from FY26 to FY31, with a financial allocation of ₹11,440 crore.
The mission will have several components. It will help develop and propagate varieties with higher productivity that are pest-resistant and climate-resilient. Another target is to bring an additional 3.5 million hectares of area under pulses by including fallow land and promoting crop diversification.
Under the scheme, the government will subsidise new processing units and post-harvest infrastructure. Another major intervention is assured purchase of pulses at minimum support prices (MSP). Overall, the mission aims to increase production to 35 million tonnes in FY31 (from 25 million tonnes in FY25) and enhance productivity to 1.13 tonnes per hectare.
Why are farmers reluctant to grow pulses?
Farmers are losing interest in pulses for several reasons. One, most pulses are low-productivity crops grown in marginal lands without any access to irrigation. They are also prone to weather risks like drought and excess rain. Finally, even though the government declares an MSP, assured purchases have been low, which means farmers often sell at unremunerative prices.
For instance, as of early October, summer-grown pulses like moong, tur and urad are selling in wholesale markets at 14-28% discount to MSP. This is because India is allowing imports at very low or zero duties and domestic growers are unable to compete with cheaper imports. Yellow peas imported from Canada at zero duty are available for less than ₹3,000 per quintal compared to the government-announced MSP of ₹5,875 per quintal.
How have imports increased?
The import of pulses has surged in recent years. The import bill grew over three-fold, from $1.6 billion in FY21 to $5.5 billion in FY25. Most of the imports are from Australia and Canada (yellow/white peas), and Myanmar, Tanzania and Mozambique (tur or pigeon peas). The surge in imports is largely because domestic production has been unable to keep pace with growing demand.
Data from the agriculture ministry show that production of pulses have stagnated around 25 million tonnes in FY25, which is marginally lower than the production five years back.
What explains the low productivity of pulses?
As per a Niti Aayog report published in February 2025 (Strategies and Pathways for Accelerating Growth in Pulses), average productivity of pulses in India is 740 kg per hectare, much lower than the global average of 949 kg per hectare and yields in countries like Canada and the USA (above 1800 kg per hectare).
According to the Niti report, unlike cereals, pulses have seen limited yield improvement due to a lack of high yielding varieties and insufficient innovation. Because pulses are grown in rain-fed conditions with inadequate irrigation, yields are highly vulnerable to climate impacts. Out of the 27 recorded El Nino years (associated with lower-than-average rainfall) between 1951 and 2024, fifteen experienced a decline in both production and acreage of pulses.
India has a rich genetic diversity of pulse crops with the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources holding 70,000 accessions (unique genetic types). This underutilized genetic wealth can be used to extract desirable traits and develop better varieties.
Are pulses more climate-friendly?
Yes, besides being more nutritious than cereals, pulses are more climate-friendly. They use less water and fix nitrogen in the soil. So, farmers need not use subsidized fertilizers like urea. The net social benefit from growing tur (pigeon pea) instead of rice is more than ₹13,000 per hectare, due to lower use of fertilizers and groundwater, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, as per calculations of the Arvind Subramanian committee report in 2016.
The committee recommended that MSP for pulses must reflect the positive environmental externalities that they generate and negative externalities which can be avoided (like air pollution in north India due to burning of paddy stubble in winters). However, farmers tend to choose rice over pulses because of higher yields and better prices.
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