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MSP procurement of pulses is both erratic and inadequate today. Imports of arhar, urad and masur (red lentil) are allowed at zero duty.Pulses are referred to as “orphan crops”. This is not only because of their being mostly grown in marginal lands prone to moisture stress, but also because farmers often switch to more high-yielding crops when they have access to irrigation — or even if the rains are good. Take the current kharif season from June, where surplus rainfall in much of the South Peninsula, Central and Northwest India has led to the overall pulses area sown till July 29 increasing by 2.9 per cent over the same period of last year. But area under the main kharif pulses crop, arhar (pigeon-pea), has fallen by 13.5 per cent, while rising for moong (green gram) and urad (black gram). The latter pulses are of shorter duration (60-90 days), unlike arhar that takes 160-180 days. Farmers, especially in the two major pulses-growing states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, have basically diverted arhar area to soyabean and cotton.
The primary driver in this is, however, prices. Soyabean is trading roughly 50 per cent above its minimum support price (MSP). Also, its yields are more or less the same as arhar with hardly 90-100 days’ maturity time. Cotton prices soared to record Rs 12,000-13,000 per quintal levels in March-April and are even now ruling at Rs 9,000-10,000, as against the MSP of Rs 6,080 for medium-staple varieties. Bountiful rains have given an added boost to cotton and further tilted the scales against pulses. To cut the story short, the lack of price certainty and a better than normal monsoon have resulted in pulses acreage going up mainly in Rajasthan and MP. Even there, farmers have opted for moong, urad and other short-duration pulses, which can be harvested early to enable planting of their main rabi winter-spring crop of wheat or mustard.
Such treatment to pulses is unfortunate. Apart from being a valuable protein source for many in India whose diets are vegetarian and cereal-based, pulses harbour bacteria that naturally “fix” atmospheric nitrogen and their extensive root systems keep the soil porous and well-aerated. Pulses should become a commercial crop rather than a crop of last resort. That requires assured MSP, a stable import policy and breeding of varieties that are of shorter duration and amenable to mechanical harvesting. MSP procurement of pulses is both erratic and inadequate today. Imports of arhar, urad and masur (red lentil) are allowed at zero duty. There is nothing more perverse than policies that encourage farmers to grow more rice, wheat and sugarcane than crops requiring less water and chemical fertilisers.
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First published on: 04-08-2022 at 04:07:37 am