Poor economics weakens the pulse of pulses crop

POOR CROP: India imports two million tonnes of pulses from Canada and Myanmar every year.

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Nalgonda (Andhra Pradesh): India is the largest producer of pulses in the world, accounting for 27 per cent of the world's produce.

However, it still imports two million tonnes of pulses from Canada and Myanmar every year. For while the country needs 18 million tonnes of dal, farmers produce just 13 million, the demand-supply gap is at a dangerous 3 million tonne.

Andhra Pradesh is the third largest producer of pulses in the country and farmers here are turning away from pulses and going after cash crops.

And the reasons are many: from a stagnating Minimum Support Price for farmers, which has meant no money in the crop to no high-yielding varieties of seeds.

The neglect of pulses goes back to more than 40 years. Surprising, considering it is the poor man's source of protein and unlike rice or wheat, needs very little water to grow.

Last year, the Centre banned forward trading in pulses in an effort to contain prices. But clearly that’s not enough.

Mallesham used to grow red gram about 15 years ago in his 10-acre farm in Munugudu village in the Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh.

But now he grows cotton, keeping aside just one acre for pulses for his own family. The reason: economics.

“Cotton has a yield of 10-15 quintals an acre. Red gram yields 5-6 quintals. A quintal of cotton sells for between 1,900 to 2,000 rupees. Red gram is at 2,100 to 2,200 rupees. But yield is very low, so I've switched over to cotton,” he says.

Not just that, there is still no solution to common diseases specific to these crops.

Eriah, a farmer says, "At the time of flowering, two out of every three branches on a stem dry up. So yield is low and there's no medicine to counter this."

"It is not remunerative for the farmers. Our aim is to go above the MSP and pay them," says state Agriculture Minister Raghuveera Reddy.

In fact, the weakening pulse of this crop is being felt across Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and unless it is revived, it will be just a matter of time before the humble dal disappears from households that cannot afford to pay the price.