India's fewer grain Imports imply this

India has seen a fluctuation in the import of pulses and has drastically reduced its trend to almost $1.94 Billion. However, its demand chain is more than its supply chain leading to more import of the commodities.

This trend can be observed because of:-

1. Higher Domestic Production: According to the Agriculture Ministry, India's pulses output has increased from 19.26mt in 2013-14 to 27.50mt in 2022-23.

2. Aatmanirbharta (Self-sufficiency): On pulses, imports have reached 90% while on oilseeds it has remained at 40%.

3. Dramatic drops in Yellow/white peas (matar) and chickpeas (chana). Those have since plunged to negligible levels. This is due to falling imports from Ukraine, Russia, and Canada.

4. Boost to chana production came: 1st is the levy of a 60% import duty on chana since March 2018. The second intervention has been government procurement at Minimum Support Prices (MSP).

Concerns ahead:-

1. The erratic production of most non-chana pulses has meant no letup in their imports. Arhar imports from- Mozambique, Myanmar, Tanzania, Malawi, and Sudan hit a record 0.9mt in 2022-23.

2. Masoor (red lentil) is equally interesting, whose imports from Canada and Australia have crossed 1.1-1.2 mt in some years.

3. Looking ahead, a subnormal monsoon can potentially lead to inflation in pulses.

Strategies to raise pulses production:-

• Timely plant protection measures

• Increasing area under pulses

• Financial help

• Supply of good quality seeds

• Educating farmers in modern technology of pulse production

• Grazing management

• Developing High Yield Variety seeds

• Use of specific Rhizobium culture

• Mixed cropping with other crops

• Balance Fertilization.

Source: A Newspaper article from The Hindu Newspaper Daily News Analysis