Miller Magazine Issue: 128 August 2020

55 COVER STORY MILLER / August 2020 planted during June/July and harvested in Sept/Oct where major pulses grown are pigeon pea (tur/arhar), black matpe (urad) and green gram (moong). Rabi crop is planted in Nov/Dec and harvested in March/ April where major puls- es are chickpea (chana) and lentil (masoor) as also smaller quantities of urad and moong (about 500,000 tons each). A substantial expansion of production has brought its own problems including low domestic prices that hurt growers. Every season the government announces a minimum sup- port price (MSP) for major pulse crops which becomes a benchmark for growers and for the market. However, in the last two years, more often than not, prices have been ruling below the MSP, necessitating gov- ernment intervention. State agencies purchase pulses from growers as a measure of price support. But the size of such price support operations in most cases is unequal to the vol- ume of production and so, market prices tend to continue to rule below the MSP. This discourages pulse growers. It may be observed that in the last two years, the coun- try’s pulses output has stagnated at 22-23 million tons and actual production has fallen short of the target set by the government. A combination of large production and low prices has resulted in a contraction of India’s import volumes. From a record 6.6 million tons seen in 2016-17 import has de- clined to 3.0 million tons in 2019-20. While production data are maintained on crop year basis (October to September) by the Ministry of Agriculture, import data are recorded on financial year ba- sis (April to March) by the Ministry of Commerce. Be that as it may, even with higher domestic production and lower import volumes, India continues to garner the attention of major exporting countries such as Canada, Australia, Myanmar, Ukraine, USA and East African nations. Some of these or- igins cultivate pulses with India as the target market. But because of low domestic prices Indian government has re- stricted pulses import through quantitative ceiling and im- port duties. Since 2017, import of pigeon pea (tur/arhar), black matpe (urad) and green gram (moong) is subject to quanti- tative restriction (QR). For 2020-21, a quanti- ty ceiling of 1.1 million tons has been allowed for the above pulses. Import of lentil and chickpea is unrestricted but attracts customs duty. Yellow pea import is currently restricted in terms of both quantity and tariff. Some exporting countries have lodged a complaint at the WTO against India’s QR. The Indian government argues that QR is a tem- porary measure to support growers and prop up low prices in the domestic market. Amid national lockdown since March 25 in these times of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has made a significant decision. Nearly 180 million families that are financially vulnerable will receive every month one kilo- gram of pulses free of cost for nine months – from April to November this year. Approximately 1.6 million tons of pulses (mainly whole chickpea or chana) will be dis- tributed. The move is not only humanitarian but would help increased consumption of pulses in the country especially among poorer sections of the society. Indian policymakers believe the country has reached self-sufficiency in pulses. I would like to say India’s claim of self-sufficiency is a myth. The per capita availability of puls- es in the country is only 14 kilograms per person per year whereas nutritionists recommend consumption of at least 20 kilogram per capita. In order to achieve 20 kg per capita consumption, India’s pulse production will have to rise by 25-30 percent from the current levels to reach 30 million tons. It is a far cry on current reckoning. India still suffers from pervasive under-nutrition and acute protein deficiency. My research shows that pulses provide the most economical vegetable protein and puls- es consumption should be expanded considerably through appropriate policies. Higher consumption of pulses will help fight protein deficiency and advance the country’s nutrition security. Importantly, Indian agriculture in general and pulses cultivation in par- ticular is fragile and vulnerable. Our crops are at the mercy of the weather gods. Even a single bad monsoon can result in a farm disaster. This vulnera- bility should be recognized. Table 1: IndIa’s Pulse ProductIon Trends (In MIllIon tons) Year Kharif Rabi Total 2015-16 5.5 10.8 16.3 2016-17 9.6 13.5 23.1 2017-18 9.3 16.1 25.4 2018-19 8.1 14.0 22.1 2019-20 8.0 15.0 23.0 2020-21 --- --- 26.3* *Production Target Source: Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture Table 2: Trends In IndIa’s Pulses Import (In mIllIon tons) 2016-17 6.6 2017-18 5.6 2018-19 2.6 2019-20 2.9