NEW DELHI: The green revolution seems to have bypassed pulses production, with no breakthrough in high yielding varieties. The result: near stagnation in output and a decline in per capita availability. Despite being the largest producer, India continues to import pulses to bridge the demand-supply gap.

With an estimated output of 13.38 million tonnes in 2004-05 against a target of 15.30 million tonnes, the country will continue to import pulses to keep prices under check. Last year, pulses worth over Rs. 2,251 crores were imported.

With a domestic demand of 17 million tonnes and an average supply of about 15 million tonnes, the Government is forced to import up to two million tonnes every year. Despite setting a production target of 15 million tonnes for some years, the country has not been able to reach it. The closest it came to achieving the target was in 2003-04, when the output touched 14.94 million tonnes.

According to Indian Council of Agriculture Research sources, productivity is low because pulses are raised in non-irrigated, drought prone areas. Apart from that, the crop is prone to pests and diseases and is risky. Lack of breakthrough in high-yielding varieties and use of poor quality seeds add to the problem.

Experts say the impact of the green revolution was not uniform. While the productivity of rice increased from 862 kg/hectare in 1965-66 to 2077 kg/ha in 2003-04 and that of wheat from 827 to 2713 kg/ha, the productivity of pulses increased from 438 to 637 kg/ha during the same period. The productivity of pulses, though improved, could not reach the levels of rice and wheat.

Flexibility

Recently, to provide flexibility to States in implementation of the regional approach to the pulses programme, the Government has merged its projects into one Centrally sponsored integrated scheme of oilseeds, pulses, oil palm and maize. It is implemented in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

India is the largest producer of pulses, with about 27 per cent of the global production. Its per capita availability, however, declined from 10.6 kg in 2003 to 22.5 kg during 1965-66.

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