Daily availability of pulses per capita in India FY 2011-2023

In financial year 2023, about 47 grams of pulses were available per capita daily in India. This was a decrease compared to the previous year. Rice and wheat had a higher per capita daily availability and had a higher consumption rate among food grains during the measured time period. 

Striving for self-sufficiency

Being one of the largest populated countries in the world is accompanied with the conundrum of satisfying the resident consumer’s needs for food grains. Recent years have witnessed a steady growth in the demand for pulses in India. However, the production of pulses does not meet the consumable requirement of the country, wherein the deficit is fulfilled by imports. Since 2017, the volume of imports has steadily declined, which is in accordance with the governments initiatives to increase pulse production to provide for domestic consumption.

The effects of the Green Revolution

The agricultural populace of India traditionally integrated pulses into its inventory due to the ease of using self-procured seeds and the members of the family as labor to facilitate production without the dependence on external inputs. The green revolution focused on improving the production output of rice and wheat, thus isolating the agricultural lands for growing pulses. Consequently, pulses were grown in unirrigated conditions on marginal or sub marginal lands in India which includes the prominent states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Though pulses are harvested both during the Rabi and the Kharif season, the Rabi harvest accounts for a larger share of the production volume.