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Informist, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – India can achieve surplus pulses production of 48.44 million tonnes by 2030, and 63.64 million tonnes in 2047 by unlocking untapped cultivation areas and diversifying cropping patterns, according to NITI Aayog. Currently, India is a net importer of pulses with production of 25.23 million tonnes in 2024-25. 

 

Without boosting pulse production, the country is likely to face supply shortages of 15.74 million tonnes by 2030, under a normative scenario, the think tank said in a report. India's demand for pulses is expected to grow to 46.3 million tonnes, while supply is seen only at 30.6 million tonnes by 2030. By 2047, the demand-supply gap is seen narrowing to 4.47 million tonnes as supply is projected to grow to 45.8 million tonnes, and demand is forecast at 50.3 million tonnes. 

 

However, the country has the potential to become self-reliant and have surplus production. India can increase pulses production by over 20 million tonnes through targeted expansion and better farm practices. "A promising opportunity for horizontal expansion lies in the effective and efficient utilisation of untapped resources," NITI Aayog said in its report on strategies and pathways for accelerating growth in pulses production. 

 

According to the report, horizontal expansion alone could deliver significant gains if underutilised lands are tapped for pulse cultivation. Efficient use of rice fallow areas spread across India has the potential to yield 2.85 million tonnes of pulses, while sugarcane intercropping in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh can potentially add 2.4 million tonnes of pulses. Similarly, integrating pulses cultivation into rice–wheat cropping systems in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana is projected to add another 2.8 million tonnes. "These measures could collectively unlock an additional 8.05 million tonnes of pulses production," NITI Aayog said.  More

 

Through efficient irrigation management, India can harness the potential of summer pulses, the report said. Currently, most pulses are cultivated in the rabi season. 

 

Meanwhile, through vertical expansion, pulses output could rise by 12.05 million tonnes, the report said. Vertical expansion focuses on bridging yield gaps through the adoption of customised technologies, improved mechanisation, value addition, and reducing post-harvest losses. "A mere 1% reduction in these losses could add 0.27 MT (27,000 tonnes) by 2030, and 0.41 MT (41,000 tonnes) by 2047 with specific gains across different pulse crops," the report said. 

 

Improved mechanisation could increase productivity by 10-15% by reducing labour costs and improving overall efficiency. Employing best practices of post-emergence herbicide use could also enhance production by a significant 6.9 million tonnes, the report said. 

 

Farmers have easily adopted varietal replacement, but are lagging in seed replacement, Farm Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi said. Variety replacement involves adopting new, improved crop varieties with superior traits, such as higher yields and disease resistance. In contrast, seed replacement is the practice of replacing old or farm-saved seeds with new, certified, or quality seeds. 

 

To ensure high-quality seeds, NITI Aayog suggested establishing cluster-based seed hubs for implementing end-to-end traceability. The integration of farmer-producer organisations with national agricultural markets and promoting value chain planning to reduce costs and increase farmers' income will also help with the pulses productivity, the report said. 

 

Unlike paddy, which is a water-guzzling and fertiliser-intensive crop, pulses are a sustainable crop as they improve soil health and require less water, NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand said. Achieving self-sufficiency in pulses is critical for ensuring food security as it is a major source of protein, he added.

 

Chand also said the "hidden demand" for pulses is high as it remains unaffordable to underprivileged sections of the population. Once import duty on pulses is removed or reduced, "demand surfaces, revealing the (true) hunger for pulses," he added.

As per Chand, over the past five years, from 2017-18 to 2022-23, India's pulse sector has experienced a growth rate of approximately 2.5%. "If this trend continues, it will be sufficient to meet the projected demand," he said.  End

 

Reported by Afra Abubacker and Pallavi Singhal

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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