What is Pulses revolution | National Food Security Mission

Posted on February 13, 2021

  1.  Pulses occupy an important place in Indian agriculture. India moved from a situation of acute scarcity of pulses in 2015-16, to providing free pulses to most of the citizens in the country.
  2. The 2015-16 pulses crisis was not a wasted opportunity; it set forth an ambitious and desirable outcome to make the country self-sufficient in pulses production.
  3. The twin factors critical to an immediate increase in pulses production was the minimum support price (MSP) and procurement from farmers directly at MSP.
  4. Additional coverage was provided for pulses under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) launched in 2016-17.
  5. As in the wheat and rice revolutions, the rewards of the increased pulse production are also being reaped by a few farmers, concentrated mostly in irrigated areas. Attracted by the high prices that such pulses as pigeon pea and chick pea fetch in the market, these farmers are now growing them on a regular basis.
  6. Despite the increasing yields of some pulses, the demand for pulses has consistently exceeded production. Though India is the world's largest producer of pulses, it is also the largest importer.
  7. According to ICRISAT there has been no concerted research effort on a particular pulse. The All India Coordinated Pulses Improvement Project has had to concentrate on 10 different crops simultaneously, so the relative research attention on each crop has been less than on rice or wheat.
  8. India need to produce 40-50 lakh tonnes of additional pulses for meeting the domestic requirement and this can be possible only if we develop high yielding short duration, drought and insect-pest resistance varieties of pulses.
  9. The important role that pulses can play in sustainable crop production systems, in particular through their contribution to improved soil fertility and to agro-biodiversity along with providing a balanced and healthy diet as evidenced by their use by the World Food Programme and other food aid initiatives makes it a naturally optimal choice.

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