LAUSR

The peculiarity of India’s pulse production scenario highlighted that although India is the largest producer of pulses in the world, its domestic demand outstrips domestic production and the shortfall is met from imports. India imported nearly 5.6 million tons of pulses worth Rs. 18748 crore during 2017-18. The national demand for pulses is increasing as a consequence of increasing population, increasing vegetarianism, measures adopted to tackle the problem of protein energy malnutrition and this necessitates the concerted efforts to increase the production of pulses. Long-term solution to meet demand for pulses lies in increasing the production of pulses in the country which is indeed a challenge for us to ensure supply of pulses as their cultivation is primarily taken up under rain-fed conditions on marginal and sub-marginal lands and is prone to production losses due to moisture stress. The current production scenario of pulses in India reveals that the domestic supply of pulses is nearly capable of meeting the growing demand of its consumers. About 30 million hectares of land is under pulses, producing about 25 million tons annually during 2017-18. Moreover, the realignment of cropping pattern to relatively less water-intensive crops such as pulses in water-scarce areas will have multitude benefits for all.