India's pulse import dependence and trade policy

India is the world's largest producer, consumer and importer of pulses. Production rose from 14 mt in 2007-08 to 27.5 mt in 2022-23 under the National Food Security Mission - Pulses, but domestic supply has consistently lagged demand by 2-5 million tonnes a year. The gap is bridged by imports, primarily of tur (pigeonpea), urad (blackgram), masoor (lentil) and yellow peas, sourced from Canada, Australia, Myanmar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan and Russia. Per-capita pulse availability has hovered at 50-55 g/day against the ICMR-NIN recommendation of 80 g/day.

Structure of import dependence

Tur (pigeonpea): 5-9 lakh tonnes/year, mainly from Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, Myanmar under bilateral G-to-G MoUs; tur self-sufficiency remains a major NFSM-Pulses target
Urad (blackgram): 3-7 lakh tonnes/year, almost entirely from Myanmar
Masoor (lentil): 5-15 lakh tonnes/year from Canada and Australia; the most import-dependent pulse, with Canadian red lentil dominating
Yellow peas (matar): 5-30 lakh tonnes/year from Canada and Russia — the cheapest substitute pulse, often replacing chana in low-income consumption
Chana (chickpea): largely self-sufficient since 2017-18; 1-3 lakh tonnes imported from Australia in deficit years

Total pulse imports have ranged from 25 lakh tonnes (2020-21) to over 45 lakh tonnes (2023-24), at a value of US$3-4 billion. Pulses are India's second-largest agricultural import after vegetable oils.

Trade-policy instruments

The government uses a four-instrument toolkit to balance farmer prices (MSP support) and consumer prices (food inflation):

Tariffs: import duty on tur, urad and masoor is typically held at 0% (with periodic exemptions). Yellow peas attracted a 50% duty until 2018, then 60%, then 0% from December 2023; chana duty 60-70%
Quantitative restrictions: tur, urad, moong moved between "Free" and "Restricted" status; quotas allotted via DGFT to importers
G-to-G MoUs: bilateral agreements with Mozambique (200,000 t tur), Malawi (50,000 t tur), Myanmar (250,000 t urad) for assured-volume imports at floor prices
Stock-limit orders: Essential Commodities Act stock limits on traders, millers and importers to prevent hoarding during price spikes
Buffer stock: 20-30 lakh tonnes maintained by NAFED under the Price Stabilisation Fund, released through retail tenders and the Bharat Dal brand

Domestic policy response

The National Food Security Mission - Pulses targets pulse-area expansion through cluster demonstrations, certified-seed subsidy, mini-irrigation and the Pulses Acceleration Programme in rice-fallow eastern India. The CACP MSP increases for tur, urad and masoor since 2017-18 (with C2+50% from kharif 2018) have aimed to lift farmer profitability above paddy and wheat. MSP procurement by NAFED and state agencies under PSS is the primary domestic price floor.

Limitations of the import strategy

Heavy reliance on a small number of supplier countries (Canada for lentils, Myanmar for urad, Mozambique for tur) creates supply-shock risk — the 2017 Mozambique tur dispute and the 2021-22 Myanmar political disruption both caused sharp domestic price spikes. Imported pulses also create periodic price crashes that depress domestic farmer prices below MSP, triggering large PSS procurement burdens. The structural exit route is yield improvement and area expansion through NFSM-Pulses, but progress is gradual.

Sources

DA&FW Annual Report 2023-24. Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Pulses trade policy notifications. Directorate General of Foreign Trade.
Pulses import statistics. Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Kolkata.