There is definitely a case to extend the success story in the two to other pulses – more so in tur and urad. For that, primacy has to be accorded to breeding. The existing tur varieties have a duration of 160-180 days.
Feb 22, 2025 07:23 IST First published on: Feb 22, 2025 at 07:23 IST
Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has said that the Centre may stop duty-free imports of yellow peas (matar) after February. This comes even as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her latest budget speech, announced a six-year Mission for Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in pulses with a special focus on tur (pigeon-pea), urad (black gram) and masoor (red lentil). It also comes at a time when India’s pulses imports, at $3.28 billion during November 2024, were 56.6 per cent higher than for the corresponding period of the previous year, and are set to cross a record $5 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal. The domestic crop was poor last year because of drought in Maharashtra and Karnataka, leading to a spike in consumer prices. But with retail pulses inflation easing to 2.6 per cent in January, from double digit levels through much of last year, the Centre probably does not feel the need to import much now.
India, incidentally, achieved some degree of self-reliance in pulses, especially from 2018-19 to 2022-23. That period saw a significant drop in imports, particularly of matar and chana (chickpea). This was enabled by increased domestic production, mainly of chana and moong (green gram), where scientists bred shorter-duration varieties requiring one irrigation at most. In moong, farmers are today taking as many as four crops a year, thanks to varieties that are short-duration as well as photo-thermo insensitive, making them amenable to growing anytime and anywhere. The Modi government also helped through some concerted efforts at minimum support price (MSP)-based procurement of chana and moong. There is definitely a case to extend the success story in the two to other pulses – more so in tur and urad. For that, primacy has to be accorded to breeding. The existing tur varieties have a duration of 160-180 days. Farmers need varieties that mature in 120-130 days, can be mechanically harvested and are resistant to insect pests and diseases.
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Pulses are cultivated largely in lands prone to moisture stress. While there is recognition of their being a source of protein, less water-guzzling than rice, sugarcane or wheat and also harbouring rhizobium bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen, pulses remain victims of policy ambiguity. Tur is now selling below its MSP. It could be the same with chana when the new crop, likely a bumper one, is harvested in over a month’s time. Pulses growers lack the one thing that rice, wheat and sugarcane farmers have – assurance of their crop being procured at or fetching an MSP. They deserve as much if not more.
