Virtually all Indians, rich and poor as well as vegetarian and non-vegetarian, consume pulses and it is an important source of protein.
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India.
(Read Yield Figures from the left axis and the rest from the right axis)
This graph clearly shows that Productivity (yield per unit of land) has had 0.7% CAGR.
Irrigated area has doubled in 55 years.
Land under pulses has grown by less than 15% in 55 years
Total Production has had 2% CAGR.
One now has no doubts as to why the prices of the humble dal are on fire!
India and Pulses
India is the world's biggest producer, importer and consumer of pulses, clearly showing the growing demand in line with the population and poor growth in production, leading to imports.
What make pulses in India an interesting market is the price sensitivities and the options available. Customers show a great deal of substitutability between pulses. If pigeon peas are expensive, eat yellow peas. If chickpeas are cheap, eat more of them, till prices go up. This dynamic consumption pattern combined with the variable, domestic production makes the Indian pulse market demand difficult to predict.
Despite their importance, the per capita availability of pulses has reduced to almost half from about 60 gm/day in 1950-51 to 26 gm/day in 2000-01 as against the recommendation (43 gm/day) of the Indian Council of Medical Research – which is ½ of what the World Health Organisation recommends.
Why Pulses
Pulses complement cereals in production. In the production process, pulses improve soil fertility, require less water than cereals and their rotation with cereals controls diseases and pests.
Proteins are amino acids. Out of the 22 amino acids required in the human diet, the body supplies 14. The remaining eight have to come from food. If all the eight amino acids are present in a single food item, it is called a complete protein food.
Since all proteins from animal sources are complete proteins, it is easy to meet the dietary protein requirements of non-vegetarians. However, the main sources of protein for vegetarians are leguminous plants — to which pulses belong. In general, pulses have lower concentrations of protein than animal sources. Besides, none of the pulses — except soybeans — are complete proteins. Therefore, combinations of two or more pulses are needed in a vegetarian diet.
Green Revolution and PDS Bypass
I thought bypasses were built to avoid traffic jams within the city. But by focusing on increasing production of cereals and minimum support prices for them and assured supplies in PDS, the GOI created problems for pulses.
The green revolution saw the country taking great strides in increasing the yields of rice and wheat. Along with this, the government’s procurement policy and strategy helped in the promotion of these cereals. There have been no great technology breakthroughs with respect to pulses. Equally, no aggressive plan, commensurate with the crisis, is in place for pulses.
Wheat production showed an 843 percent increase between 1950 and 1992.
Since 1950 the increase in rice production has been more than 350 percent.
The PDS seeks to provide to the beneficiaries two cereals, rice and wheat and four essential commodities (sugar, vegetable oil, and kerosene oil for cooking and light). Pulses one of the main protein source are not part of PDS.
The solution – Set up a Mission – spend money and stay with the problem
Recognising the problem, the Government of India (GOI) as usual sets up a National Mission on Pulses and in the 2010 Budget allocates Rs 300 crore provided to organise 60,000 “pulses and oil seed villages” in rain-fed areas during 2010-11. Wow, 300 crores sounds great and assuming 1/2 of it is for pulses, but what does it mean – it means 25,000 rupees per village for a whole year. With that kind of money, one is expected to make a difference. 25,000 bucks is not even enough to recruit a full time agriculture extension, forget experiments, travel, etc. We have had a technology mission on pulses since 1990-91 and though we have had all parties govern India during this time, nothing seems to have made a difference.
Learn from Canada:
Saskatchewan is Canada’s leading province for agriculture. It is the country’s granary especially for pulses and dominates the global pulses market because of the natural comparative advantages based on climate, and an industry-driven research sector, according to Dr Bert Vandenberg, (Plant Breeder at the University of Saskatchewan). Hello ICAR – are you hearing!!!
Saskatchewan now produces close to nine lakh tonnes of lentils each year; and in the last 20 years, the annual output growth has roughly equalled annual growth of global consumption. “If global lentil consumption continues to grow even at six per cent a year, we will need to produce more than two lakh additional tonnes each year, Dr Vandenberg says, pointing to the huge potential for further growth.
Value for money!
Make the 300 crore subsidy a onetime subsidy – have public tenders and let private sector participate and allow them to demonstrate increased yields in different pockets of the country and give them the subsidy based on performance. Out with lousy bureaucrat manned government schemes. Come on Man (Mohan)!!! I am sure people like Dr. Vandenberg can be found among the billion + Indians.
Great. It is inevitable for us to include private sector participation.
ReplyDeleteWe are always trying to find out 20 percent potential threats in any change. Not the potential benefits. Let us be courageous enough not to hide like an Ostrich but face the reality head to head.
The bureaucracy shall have an oversight to ensure a level playing field for all the participants.