The year 2016 is United Nations International Year of Pulses. Keeping this the slides present overview of pulses production, consumption and trade in India.

1. Policy Issues in Pulses in India
A Amarender Reddy
Principal Scientist(Agricultural Economics)
Division of Agricultural Economics
ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
Email: amarender@iari.res.in; anugu.amarender.reddy@gmail.com

2. Overview of the sector
• Production increased from 13-15 mt in 2009-10 to 19 mt in 2014.
• Export ban, zero import duty, stock limits in 2006 (short term measures)
• NFSM-pulses, A3P, increase in MSP from 2007 onwards, good monsoon
from 2010 to 2014 (combination of technology and price with good
monsoon)
• 2015 and 2016 bad years
• About 90% of the pulses growing districts with less than 1 t/ha yield.
• Demand growing faster (4-5% per annum)
• Indias imports about 3-5 million tonnes. (world trade only 12 MT)
• By 2025 IIPR estimates 25.39 million tons demand. (some other estimate
27 MT to 30 MT)
– Production needs to grow atleast 5% per annum” Approach paper 12th Plan
– In fact some econometric estimates of the income elasticities of demand of
pulses range from 1.5 to 2.0. This would mean that with an increase of around
6.5% annual in per capita income demand for pulses would increase around
ten percent annually.(Y.K. Alagh, The Future of Indian Agriculture, Indian
Economic Journal, April 2011, pp. 40-55:also the same title, NBT,2012)

3. 3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Netimports
Production/availability
Trends in production,net imports and availability(MT)and forecast
Net imports Production Total availability
Production and availability of Pulses (Million Tons)
Year Production Net imports Demand
2008 14.8 2.0 16.8
2009 14.6 2.9 17.5
2010 14.7 3.6 18.3
2011 18.2 2.6 20.8
2012 17.2 3.3 20.5
2013 18.3 3.8 22.1
2014 19.8 3.3 23.1
2015 17.2 4.4 21.6
2016 18.3 5.2 23.5
2020 21.3 5.8 27.1
2025 24.0 7.3 31.3

4. 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
5
10
15
20
25
30
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
Yield(kg/ha)
Area,production,%irrigatedarea
Area(MHa), production(MT), % irrigated area and yield pulses
Area Poduction % irrigated area Yield
35 180 268
579
417
3565
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
1992/94 1999/2001 2013/14
Exports and imports of pulses (1000 tons)
Exports Imports
Sudden increase in imports due to zero duty from 2006 onwards
and also recent shortfall.
Lentil is major export until 2001, but now chickpeas.

5. Relative increase in MSP for
pulses, evoke interest in
pulses by farmers, area
increased

6. 10 12
3 5
13 15
1 2 0 1 6 8 6 8
5 7
9 9
8 7
8 9 15 14 5 6 6 7
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Rural
Urban
Rural
Urban
Rural
Urban
Rural
Urban
Rural
Urban
Rural
Urban
Rural
Urban
UP Bihar MP Rajastan Punjab Other states All India
Pulses consumption (gm/capita/day)
Arhar Gram Moong Masur Urd Peas Khesari Other
Consumer tastes: arhar is preferred even at Rs.70/kg, compared to peas at Rs.14/kg

7. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120 Rural
Urban
Total
Rural
Urban
Total
Rural
Urban
Total
Rural
Urban
Total
Rural
Urban
Total
UP Bihar MP Rajastan Punjab
Consumption ofpoorest and richest
consumers(gm/capita/day)
Poorest Richest
% of households consumed pulses in the reference month
Pulses UP Bihar MP Rajasthan Punjab others India
gram-split 32 52 42 71 85 38 41
besan 54 35 49 66 68 30 36
gram-whole 15 30 9 9 83 27 26
arhar 81 38 89 26 11 59 58
moong 29 31 55 87 89 51 51
urad 46 3 28 39 50 42 40
peas 39 6 5 1 1 12 13
kesari 0 6 2 0 0 2 2
Growth in per capita income
at 6% boost demand
further.
Demand growth is projected
at 27 MT by 2020 and 31
MT by 2025 (IIPR projected
26 MT by 2025)
Need to import 5-7 MT
(world trade is only 12 MT)
Arhar, moong,
urad: world
supply is limited

8. Pulses Exports
(1000 tons)
Share in total
pulses exports
(%)
Import
s(1000
tons)
Share in total
pulses imports
(%)
Peas 0.7 0.3 1351 38
Moong/Urad 1.6 0.6 634 18
Lentils 0.9 0.3 608 17
Chickpeas 264.4 98.5 487 14
Pigeonpeas 0.8 0.3 486 14
Total 268 100.0 3564.5 100.0
India’s imports and exports
(average of 2012-13 and 2013-14)
Is India is competitive enough for import substitution?

10. Productivity of pigeonpea
Productivity of chickpea

11. Technology
reduced cost of
production in rabi,
but not in kharif
pulses
(the production of
kharief pulses
mostly depend on
good monsoon)
Instability
decreased in all
pulses
Cost of production (Rs/q)
Instability index

12. 40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Monthly average prices (2009 to 2014)
Moong Arhar dal Urad Masoor dal Gram dal
Throughout year prices of moong and arhar are higher and gram and masoor lower

13. Challenges
• Production =f(area, yield); area =f(profitability, risk)
• Profitability =f(yield, price)
• Area Stagnation: The main reason for stagnation in area under pulses has
been differential impact of technology and relative profitability leading
to shifting of area under pulses to more remunerative crops.
• Expansion of irrigation was another factor. Uncontrolled water
flows(flooding) common in canal systems is incompatible with large scale
area under pulses.
• Even though instability decreased, still risk in production of gram is more
than wheat; arhar is more than maize.
• Pulses grown under unirrigated, rainfed conditions in marginal lands.
• Productivity below 750 kg/ha, while competing countries like
Canada, Australia reached 2000 kg/ha.
• Technology breakthroughs in the difficult regions and
adverse farming conditions ( rainfed regions, the ghats and
hill regions) was just not there on a large scale

14. Challenges
I. Scattered and thin distribution, with each crop contributing
a small share in total pulses area – the biggest hurdle for
crop specific strategies (to procure at MSP, to distribute
HYVs, rizobium culture) institutional support;
II. Low genetic yield potential
III. low response to input management
IV. shifting of pulses to low-productive and marginal lands
V. high frequency of crop failure and yield instability due to
biotic and abiotic stresses
VI. Low priority by policy makers and also by farmers

15. Opportunities: Low hanging fruits
• Seed replacement rate to 33%- truthful seeds
• Focus on kharif pulses (low productive and high potential)
• Yield gaps –NFSM, A3P, RKVY
• high MSP
• Incentive schemes(income insurance/income deficiency payment).
• Life saving irrigation/micro-irrigation
• Inter-cropping and mixed cropping/bunds – short duration
• Area under pulses is price elastic (fallow lands, reclaimed waste
lands, harsh condition)

16. Opportunities
– rice fallow lands 3 to 4 million ha – this has the potential for
additional production of around 2.5 MT. (eastern India)
– About 5 lakh ha area of upland rice and other water intensive
crops grown under water scarcity conditions, currently giving low
yields can be brought under kharif/rabi pulses.
– short-duration 60-65 day summer moong and urad where
adequate irrigation facilities exist
– Blue bull is to be contained.
– Similarly pigeon pea on rice bunds and intercropping in specific
agro climatic regimes is identified
– Land development through watershed programme (around 9
million ha)

17. Policy variables
• MSP and government procurement not effective-(deficiency payment)
• Price monitoring- timely intervention (reduce hoarding)
• Maintain price band ( trigger procurement and import subsidy)
• Buffer stock purchase from open market
• Subsidies for micro-irrigation/mobile sprinklers/rizobium innoculum
compatible with WTO (infrastructure, buffer stock, food security)
• farm mechanization (simultaneous harvesting of rice crop and sowing of
pulse crop)
• Procurement centre with adequate storage facilities at block level in major
pulse growing zones.
• Removal of controls like export ban, stocking limit to facilitate national
market
• Contingency planning
• Futures and spot markets
• Aggregators/producer companies (Rs.500 crores special purpose vehicle)

18. Newer Business Models
• Pulses development require some innovative institutions like
PPPs
– Rallis India – Tamil Nadu Govt. and partnership for enhancing black gram
cultivation in 3 blocks of Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu.
– Tata Chemicals Ltd.- Punjab state Govt. partnership for promotion of summer
moong in Punjab.
– Agriculture Consultancy Management Foundation (ACMF)- Rallis India Ltd.
partnership at Somangalam (Chennai) in Tamil Nadu for promotion of black gram
cultivation.
– Seed production with active involvement for producer companies.
– Improved storage facilities
– Farm Extension to rizobium culture, pulses in waste/fallow lands.
– Crop-insurance and credit delivery.
– Procurement of produce from farmer at market rate + incentive.

19. Key Recommendations
• Atleast 50% of the districts reach 1t/ha yield
level is possible as it happened in chickpea
(66%).- NFSM/RKVY/A3P
• 5 million ha additional area in next 5 years is
possible- watershed development
• Market based policy instruments with better
price monitoring system
• Transgenic crops – a long term strategy

20. Thank you!