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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026

 

By Shreya Shetty

 

MUMBAI – India's pulses trade, as, indeed, the agriculture sector, has expressed disappointment with the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27 (Apr-Mar). The Budget, presented Sunday, made no mention of higher allocations for procurement of pulses or for seed research and development.

 

"The Budget has been surprising," said Satish Upadhyay, secretary, India Pulses and Grains Association. "There has been no such underlying statement or scheme made for pulses. Only the Budget allocation amount has risen a bit."

 

The food subsidy estimate in the Budget has been raised to INR 2.28 trillion from INR 2.03 trillion for FY26. However, it is understood that the bulk of this increase would be used to cover rice and wheat over pulses and oilseeds, analysts said.

 

"They (the government) know prices (of grains such as rice, wheat, and maize) are below MSP (minimum support price) and procurement will increase, hence allocation is more," said Rahul Chauhan, president, IGrain. "But yes, the allocation (for pulses and oilseeds) as compared to wheat and rice is negligible."

 

The rise in the food subsidy bill is unlikely to aid in the procurement of pulses, which is already lagging, analysts said. "The procurement amount should have risen more," Upadhyay said. "I don't know whether the current amount is enough." He said the government is already short of funds for procurement of pulses in the current kharif and rabi marketing years.

 

The funds crunch plays a role in the delay in commencement of procurement, analysts said. For instance, in the rabi marketing year 2024–25 (Oct-Sept), the government closed its chana procurement operations at 350,000 tonnes, just 12.5% of the sanctioned quantity of 2.8 million tonnes. "They (the government) started the procurement too late," Upadhyay said. "By then, spot market prices had gone above the minimum support price and farmers didn't sell their produce to the government. Now we have low buffer stocks."

 

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India, one of only two central nodal agencies that procure pulses, currently holds 540,000 tonnes of moong, 460,000 tonnes of tur, 360,000 tonnes of domestic masur, 160,000 tonnes of chana, 36,000 tonnes of urad, and 37,000 tonnes of imported masur. The total stock of all pulses is less than the quantity stipulated for the buffer stock, according to data compiled by IGrain.

 

EXPECTATIONS QUASHED

Expectations of fund allocations and announcements of new schemes were set higher this year as the government had announced a programme for pulses in the Budget last year, experts said. "In the last Budget, National Pulses Mission was announced and allocated (funds). But in the current Budget, no declaration was made for these crops," Chauhan said.

 

In February 2025, the government had announced the six-year "Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses", which would focus on procurement of pulses, development and commercial availability of climate-resilient seeds, enhancing protein content, increasing productivity, improving post-harvest storage and management, and assuring remunerative prices to farmers.

 

"Last year, the pulses sector benefited a lot," Upadhyay said. "So this year, we were expecting more funds, more schemes, and a follow-up for the Atmanirbharta in Pulses scheme and a scaling up."

 

Analysts were disappointed by the lack of any mention of the missions announced in years past. The government had announced the National Oilseeds Mission in the Budget for FY25. "Where is the progress report of the research and development programmes and schemes announced last year?" said G. Chandrashekhar, a commodity expert and policy commentator. "There is no continuity in the Budget."

 

Though analysts agree it is possible the government had "nothing to report", and that a scheme planned to play out over six years is unlikely to have a mention in the year immediately after its announcement, they said the lack of mention also suggests the Centre is not fully committed to the mission.

 

R&D LAGS

Higher allocation for seed R&D is the need of the hour, they said. While the schemes announced last year did help the pulses sector, continued lower yields due to unfavourable weather warrant more attention and funds for research, they said.

 

Yields across several crops, including cereals, maize, soybean, and pulses, continue to trail global averages, according to the Economic Survey for FY26. "In the case of pulses, yields per hectare in India across states remained low due to persistent technological, structural, and climatic constraints, with the latter being a significant driver of low and unstable yields," according to the Survey.

 

"There are multiple challenges in the agriculture sector. We need climate-smart agriculture, and for that we need to spend more on research and development," Chandrashekhar said.

 

Lower yields are detrimental for both the producer and the consumer, analysts said. "In foreign countries, farmers own huge chunks of land, so modern mechanisation on their land is possible. Their operating costs are less and their yield is higher," Upadhyay said. Indian farmers, on the other hand, own smaller pieces of land, where mechanisation is difficult, leading to higher operating costs and lower yields, he said.

 

Farmers in the country also depend a lot on the monsoon, which makes them more vulnerable to climate-related harm, Upadhyay said. "We thought some innovative schemes (for farmer support) would come up (this year), especially after what was announced last year," he said.

 

On the consumer front, lower yield and production often leads to higher dependency on imports to meet consumption needs. "India is spending huge forex (foreign exchange) on the import of pulses and oilseeds. To save our reserves, we need to increase domestic production of these crops," Chauhan said.

 

With little attention to agricultural R&D in the Budget, "the government (may have) now realised that our (India's) import dependency (for pulses and oilseeds) will remain the same or increase," Chauhan said.

 

Pulses imports in Jan-Nov 2026 stood at 5.44 million tonnes, down about 5% from 5.72 million tonnes a year ago, according to data from the commerce ministry. This includes imports of yellow pea, chana, tur, urad, masur, and a tiny quantity of moong. Imports fell only because of the record import of yellow pea in FY25, which is used as a substitute for other pulses. The duty-free nature of imports resulted in higher volumes, before an import duty on the legume was reintroduced in November.

 

The lack of more funds for public-sector R&D in agriculture often also discourages private players in the field, Chandrashekhar said. "The private sector has already reduced its R&D budget in the past 4–5 years," he said.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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