While India repeatedly claims self-sufficiency, the country is breaking records in pulse imports every year. Pulse imports have reached around 7.7 million metric tons. Despite this rising import bill, instead of expansion, the area under pulses cultivation has shrunk. Over the past four years, the area under pulses has declined by nearly 3.1 million hectares.
Why is this happening? Even though many officials and ruling parties speak of “self-reliant India” and craft numerous plans and presentations, still the area under pulses is shrinking. The plain truth is that until farmers are assured prices at or above MSP (Minimum Support Price), no mission will succeed.
Recently the central cabinet approved a “Pulses Mission” aimed at making India self-reliant in pulses. Under this mission, by 2030-31, India aims to expand pulses cultivation to 31 million hectares (from the current 27.5 million hectares) — an addition of 3.5 million hectares. Production is to rise to 35 million tonnes, and productivity to reach 1,130 kg per hectare.
The mission will focus on 416 districts and is backed by a plan to spend 11,440 crore. But will this plan succeed?
India accounts for 35.87% of the world’s pulse cultivation area, yet our share of global production is only 27.4%. In other words, although we are the largest cultivator by area, we are also the largest importer due to the gap between demand and supply. That is precisely why the government wants to push the Pulses Mission and make the country self-reliant.
But one critical piece is missing: guaranteed prices for farmers. Unless they are assured remunerative prices, the mission is unlikely to succeed. The agriculture ministry and NITI Aayog often talk of increasing area and production, but they seem disconnected from farmers’ actual incentives. Simply presenting plans and slogans will not change farming decisions. If policy makers grasp this in time, good — otherwise the rhetoric of self-reliance will remain just talk while import reliance deepens.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, the area under pulses in 2021-22 had reached 30.731 million hectares, but by 2024-25 it declined by about 3.1 million hectares to just 27.624 million hectares. The primary reason: the prices farmers are getting. Traders may cut prices for consumers, but in the case of pulses — where India is already import-dependent — farmers don’t even receive MSP.
In its own reports, the Agriculture Ministry has noted sharp declines in mandi (market) prices of four out of five major pulse crops, even while input costs are rising.
A research report from the agriculture ministry shows that, compared to August 2024, in August 2025:
Tur (pigeon pea) prices fell by 42%,
Urad (black gram) by 20%,
Chana (gram) by 18%.
On October 1, the prices of pulses were significantly below MSP:
Tur was 1,838 below MSP,
Moong (green gram) 2,250 below,
Urad 2,063 below.
This situation arises despite the fact that India is not self-reliant in pulses. Under such circumstances, why would any farmer increase pulses cultivation?
In principle, if production is lower than demand, farmers should get better prices. But here it’s the opposite. Farmers are not even getting MSP. The question is: will presentation slides from the agriculture ministry increase the area under pulses? The bitter truth: no farmer will grow a crop that yields a loss. Given the gap between demand and supply, farmers should be getting good returns — yet government import policy prevents even MSP from being available.
According to a NITI Aayog report, India’s current domestic consumption of pulses is 29 million tonnes, while production is only 25.238 million tonnes — a shortfall of 3.762 million tonnes. Meanwhile, imports stand at 7.654 million tonnes.
At present, pulse prices have dropped sharply, and this is being attributed to excessive imports. The key question: why import pulses exceeding the demand shortfall by nearly 1.892 million tonnes? Is it possible this is done deliberately, hurting farmers?
Either the policy reports are flawed, or in the name of pleasantries for consumers, both farmers and agriculture are being knowingly jeopardized. When farmers don’t even get MSP, why would they grow pulses?
If the status quo continues, pulses cultivation will deteriorate further. Earlier, on January 4, 2024, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah promised that by December 2027, India would be self-reliant in pulses and would not need to import even a single kilogram. The question now is: will that claim hold, or will imports surge further?