NITI Aayog Releases Strategy for Building a Self-Reliant Pulses Sector

Pulses and Atmanirbharta: Why the NITI Aayog’s Strategic Blueprint Feels Incomplete

India imports nearly 20 lakh tonnes of pulses annually despite being the world’s largest producer, consumer, and cultivator of these crops. This dependence on imports, largely from Canada and Myanmar, is at the heart of NITI Aayog’s newly released report, “Strategies and Pathways for Accelerating Growth in Pulses towards the Goal of Atmanirbharta”. Yet, despite broad targets and a six-year ₹15,000 crore Mission Atmanirbharta in Pulses announced in the Union Budget 2025–26, the strategy may not sufficiently address deeply rooted structural weaknesses in the sector.

The urgency is clear: India contributes approximately 38% of the global area under pulses and accounts for 28% of pulse production worldwide. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan together produce over half of the nation’s pulse output. However, the average yield in India (0.74 tonnes/hectare) lags alarmingly behind the global average (0.97 tonnes/hectare) and remains the lowest among the top ten pulse-producing nations. This yield deficit is both agronomic and institutional in origin, posing substantial challenges to the lofty ambition of self-reliance.

Institutional Framework and Targets

The roadmap laid by NITI Aayog aligns with the objectives of the Union government’s Mission Atmanirbharta in Pulses. The mission rests on five stated pillars:

• Assurance of Procurement: Long-term agreements enabling farmers to sell pulses to NAFED and NCCF at guaranteed prices.
• Seed Systems and Traceability: High-quality seeds distributed in 111 high-potential districts under a cluster-based “One Block–One Seed Village” model.
• Strengthening Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs): Improving farmer bargaining capacity, market linkages, and quality-seed availability.
• Nutrition Factor: Integrating pulses deeply into PDS and mid-day meals to cater to nutritional security.
• Value Chain Development: Mechanisation, value addition, and reduction of post-harvest losses.

The funding blueprint — ₹15,000 crore over six years — signals political intent, but its operational specifics remain opaque. For instance, how will procurement mechanisms under NAFED address India’s fragmented pulse markets, where price volatility has historically eroded farmer confidence? Similarly, while the “One Block–One Seed Village” approach tackles the issue of access to high-quality seeds, the report stops short of detailing enforcement protocols for ensuring traceability and seed purity.

The Ground Realities: Persistent Yield and Climate Gaps

India’s pulse economy falters at the intersection of productivity, profitability, and environmental resilience. The core tension lies in the predominance of rainfed cultivation, which accounts for over 80% of pulse farming. Despite their low water and carbon footprint, pulses are disproportionately vulnerable to climatic shocks, including erratic rainfall, drought, and El Niño/La Niña cycles. Thus far, irrigation improvements and proactive climate adaptation — both emphasized in the report — have been slow to materialize at scale.

Technological gaps compound the problem. High-yielding varieties of pulses, like those that revolutionized cereal production during the Green Revolution, remain unavailable to farmers. Pest and disease management tools are underdeveloped, as is extension support for disseminating modern cultivation techniques. These structural lags explain why farmers, lured by more profitable crops like rice and wheat, continue to shy from pulses despite its contribution to nutritional security and soil health.

Economic disincentives further deepen the crisis. Volatile market prices and fragmented marketing channels not only hinder farmer profitability but also restrict their ability to trade in stable, robust marketplaces. While FPOs could theoretically address this challenge, their expansion remains uneven, with variations in effectiveness across states.

International Lens: A Contrasting Case Study

Canada’s pulse sector offers a sharp contrast. As the world’s largest exporter of pulses, Canada has achieved high yields through systematic investments in Research & Development (R&D). The Saskatchewan Pulse Growers organization represents farmers and directly funds pulse research, ensuring robust innovation pipelines for disease resistance and high-yielding varieties. Contrast this with India, where agricultural R&D expenditure hovers around 0.6% of GDP — among the lowest globally.

Additionally, Canada has leveraged trade agreements to stabilize export markets while maintaining domestic price stability. India, by comparison, confronts protectionist undertones in global trade as well as irregularities within its domestic procurement frameworks — a dual vulnerability that limits competitiveness.

Structural Tensions and Gaps in the Strategy

At its core, Mission Atmanirbharta in Pulses struggles to reconcile economic ambition with decentralization imperatives. Agriculture is a state subject under the Constitution, and variations in state-level priorities often dilute centrally announced missions. For example, states like Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra — dominant pulse producers — have strong procurement frameworks, but these systems often exclude smaller or marginal farmers in backward regions.

The Union government’s emphasis on agro-clustering and FPOs could exacerbate inequities. Clustered interventions inherently benefit districts with existing high productivity, further sidelining regions with potential but inadequate infrastructure or access. Moreover, while ₹15,000 crore sounds ambitious, the per-district allocation for 111 pulse-intensive areas averages out to under ₹13 crore annually — insufficient when considering infrastructure investments, farmer outreach, and procurement costs. The timeline is equally unrealistic given India’s technological lag.

Metrics for Success — and the Unresolved Questions

What would true self-reliance look like? Primarily, a reduction in import dependence, currently the second-highest after China. Success would involve bridging the yield gap, doubling farmer incomes in pulse-intensive regions, and mainstreaming pulses as staple nutrition within PDS. But much hinges on inter-ministerial coordination. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare must closely integrate soil health initiatives with climate-resilient farming models outlined by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change. Lack of coordination on this front could derail implementation.

Equally crucial is data transparency. The report promises monitoring systems and market intelligence, yet these structures remain aspirational without details on usability or scale. Fragmented data collection mechanisms — plagued by underfunding — may undermine the very transparency the strategy seeks to achieve.

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