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Informist, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026

 

By Shreya Shetty and Abhijit Doshi

 

MUMBAI – The government's decision to increase the minimum support price of pulses every year is only notional as its ability to procure the crop has not kept up with the rise, said Anurag Tulshan, a member of the advisory board of directors of Global Pulses Confederation. Though the government's mission for 'Atmanirbharta' in pulses is admirable, India is unlikely to be self-sufficient anytime soon as inconsistent procurement has robbed farmers of any motivation to grow more, Tulshan told Informist in an interview. 

 

For the kharif marketing year 2025-26 (Oct-Sept) and rabi marketing year 2026-27 (Apr-Mar), the government raised the minimum support prices of all pulses in the range of INR 86-INR 450 per 100 kg. Last year, the government had failed to meet most of its targeted quantity for procurement, with the widest gap seen in chana procurement – 350,000 tonnes, against the sanctioned 2.8 million tonnes. This year, though the government approved the procurement of kharif tur and moong in December, purchases are yet to begin in key producing regions.

 

Constant changes to pulses import policies by the government have also destabilised the market, Tulshan said, adding that the government had the ability to come up with better long-term fixed policies. 

 

In terms of rabi pulses, Tulshan expects output to remain largely the same as last year, though he points out that the winter in northern states has been drier than previous years, which could impact the crop. It is, however, too early to provide final figures for production, he said.

 

Following are edited excerpts from the interview:

 

Q. Despite a 10% import duty on both chana and masur, Australia and Canada continue exporting large amounts of pulses to India. Is the duty not strong enough? If not, what should be the level of duty?

A. The 10% duty has not helped much in curbing imports because there is still a steady flow of cargoes coming from Canada and Australia. Because the origins have corrected themselves and, in fact, there is space, they can correct more.

 

Last year, because of the shortage that India had in chana, Australian farmers reaped a bonanza in which prices went up as high as $850 (per tonne) and even up to $900 (per tonne) for a few days. They (Australian farmers) have made so much money that this year, even if they are to sell at lower values, they don't mind selling. And again, the cost of producing chana, say, in Australia, is not that high.

 

In Australia, farmers generally have a multi-crop field. So, to keep his cash flow running, the farmer has options of selling one or the other crop. So, he is not in a desperate situation. And because of such lovely weather in Canada, it's a natural, you can say, cold storage situation there. So, the crops, even two years down the road, are not affected at all.

 

I feel there is still space for the Indian government to increase the duties. The government may be waiting to see what the final (rabi) chana figures are, whether we are short or whether we have enough cargo.

 

Q. Are Australia, Canada, or any other countries considering any pulses trade agreements with India?

A. With Australia, we already have a treaty in masur, there is a certain quantity after which the duty is imposed. And chana also, 10% (import duty) is a very small duty, and I don't think the Australian government has any objections to that. And with Canada, basically, until Mr. (Justin) Trudeau was the prime minister, the relations between Canada and India were not good. But now with the new party coming in, I'm sure the relations are on the mend. We still don't have any treaties, but Canada has been after us for granting them duty-free access to their crops.

 

But I don't think in totality, the government will allow everything to come duty-free because they need to look after our farm interests as well, which is more important to them.

 

Q. What do you think about the government's decision to levy 30% duty on yellow peas effective Nov. 1? Is it serving the purpose?

A. It has served its purpose, but I think this is a decision which should have been taken six, eight months ago, not now. In December 2023, the government allowed the duty-free imports of yellow peas after a gap of seven years. At that time, the need of the hour was to open up imports because we were looking at chana situation worsening and prices would have skyrocketed. And after that, the government kept on giving new notifications, extending the duty-free period.

 

There was always speculation before the end of the period of the notification that the government would stop or levy duties on it, but it never came. And this added to the worsening of the market. I have been in this industry for 30 years. But 2025 and the third quarter, fourth quarter of 2024 was extremely bad. Everyone lost huge amounts of money and the industry has been under severe distress.

 

The government woke up and imposed the duties. Then also, I think the scope of bringing in more duties would have been better. But still, if it's 30%, it helped in bringing the prices of yellow peas up, which has really helped the sentiment towards chana.

 

Q. Do India's pulses import policies appear as protectionist to other countries? Is there pressure from other countries on the Indian government to keep its pulses imports open?

A. You see, whatever you do, any country that has free access to export their farm produce to any country, if they see some blockages coming, they will always protest. But then you've got to think from the standpoint of our government, their motto is not to please foreign countries, but to please their own farmers and incentivise their farmers and ensure that we grow more, and they get better returns.

 

Q. In its previous Budget, the government declared its mission for 'Atmanirbharta' in pulses. Do you see this happening in the near future? What are the hurdles?

A. We want to be Atmanirbhar, but I don't think that in the very near future we can become Atmanirbhar. There are innumerable challenges of all types and you can't please everyone at the same time.

 

The government doesn't want to promote the use of pulses because if they promote more, consumption will be more, which will add on to their worries. So, the government wants to increase production, but I don't think that new farmers are dropping other crops and flocking to grow more pulses, because the issue is that with regard to the MSP (minimum support price), though it's increasing every year, it's again a notional price.

 

I don't think MSP has much importance because one fine year, the government can go on procuring big quantities but the other year, they don't procure anything. The government also has its set of challenges. Ultimately, the farmer is at the mercy of the government and till now, I am sorry to say the government has not instilled that confidence into the farmers that, yes, every year they will procure whatever they produce.

 

And again, it depends from state to state. Some states are really vigilant about procuring. But overall, it's been difficult. So, farmers don't have much confidence that they will be able to sell the produce to the government.

 

Most of the pulses are grown in rain-fed areas. We are at the vagaries of the monsoon. There is not much development on the seeds side. The yield is one of the poorest in the world. Even regions like Africa or Myanmar, their yield in pulses is much higher than yields in India.

 

Q. The current rabi acreage of pulses shows a rising trend. Will it boost rabi pulses output this year, resulting in lower imports?

A. It is a bit early to state the harvest figures. The winter has been good and the growing conditions are good. The crop is progressing well but I was just reading an article that the winter this year is extremely dry. There is not much moisture and we have not seen any rains in some states. So, again it is very early to hazard any guess as regards the crop size but overall, I think we are looking at an average crop like last year where there shouldn't be much shortages and some states will be less, but some states will be compensating with more crop.

 

Chana production should be okay. For masur, we are seeing a shorter production of about 15–20%. But then again, it is not that significant, and we have consistent imports coming in.

 

I don't think there is much concern on the part of the government as far as the size of the crop is concerned. So, imports will keep happening. I don't really feel it could go up if prices here become better, which would be typical in the case of chana and masur.

 

Q. India's pulses import policies have always been volatile – they change every year, if not every few months. According to you, what is the reason? Do you think it destabilises the market?

A. It does destabilise the market, though at least we are better off than what it used to be earlier. But I still feel it's a very volatile policy and the government needs to work on it, come up with better long-term fixed policies so that the trade and industry can adjust to it, work around it, and ensure no one really makes big losses.

 

And in trade, everything adjusts. It's purely demand and supply. I'm sure we can have better, consistent long-term policies where the duty changes are not so often and we are not at the peril of these policies.

 

Q. What is your outlook on global pulses production in 2026?

A. 2025 was a very good year for major producers like Russia, Ukraine, Canada, the US, and Australia. This year also, they will start seeding in Apr-May. So, these are the two major origins and things are looking all good. The weather again is good everywhere.

 

I'm not hearing of any scare. There were some articles that this year we might see the El Nino, which could affect the Indian monsoon. But then, I think it's too early, too premature to comment anything on that and take any decisions based on those news because every year, we get such news; a lot of it is speculation. In Canada, there have scarcely been any issues in the last 15 years. Australia does have some weather scare from time to time, but more or less they've been okay.

 

Q. What is the nature of Global Pulses Confederation's functions?

A. Global Pulses Confederation is the international nodal agency regulating pulses trade and industry. We are like an umbrella organisation and all the national associations of various countries are members of our confederation, like in India we have IPGA (India Pulses and Grains Association).

 

Under GPC, we have more than 30 members on the board of directors. Generally, these are representatives from various countries. We work very closely with the United Nations. The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) has given us recognition. We also work very closely with GAFTA, which is the Grains and Feed Trade Association.  End

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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