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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Low Pulse by Savvy Soumya Misra

Low Pulse by Savvy Soumya Misra

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published Published on Mar 3, 2010   modified Modified on Mar 3, 2010

Spiralling prices of pulses have shown India’s dependence on imports. Pulses are integral to India’s diet but not its food policy. As a result, supply cannot meet demand. What are the consequences and solutions?

Surendra Nath has switched to eating grass-pea, though he knows it is not good for health. But so is tobacco, he argues. He cannot do without pulses and pigeon-pea selling at Rs 100 a kg is beyond his means. The 45-year-old electrician-cum-security-in-charge at a housing society in east Delhi earns Rs 5,000 a month and has a seven-member family to support. “My wife insists on cooking pulses at least once a day, so we have switched to khesari (grass-pea), the cheapest available dal, that too at Rs 60 a kg,” he said.

Nath belongs to Bihar, where pulses, especially pigeon-pea (known as tur or arhar in India), form an integral part of the diet. Only cattle and the poorest of the poor would eat grass-pea since it can cause neurological disorders like paralysis and stunted growth on regular consumption over a long period.
 
Nath recalls a saying in Bihari, “ tudup taari, bel khesari ”, which means, “while the backward caste people consumed intoxicants, the ox consumed grass-pea”. To keep good health he tries larding his conversation with humour. “Now that we are on khesari, there is nothing for the ox,” he said.

In several villages in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh people now keep pigeon-pea for special occasions; peas and potatoes are the new staple.

Pulses were displaced from their prime position in many an Indian platter when their prices doubled a year ago.
 
Pigeon pea, which cost Rs 50 a kg earlier, was for Rs 120. Greengram saw a similar price rise and most other pulses were above Rs 70 a kg.

While the poor cut down on pulses, their main source of protein, the middle class grudgingly stuck to its preferred pulses. “Adjustments are made in other expenses; rice, wheat and pulses are the basic requirements,” said Sonila Sinha, a teacher in Delhi’s suburb Noida and mother of two growing children.
 
Pulses are essential for protein, body’s building blocks, she stressed.

Though rice and wheat have some protein, they do not have the right amino acids. The only other source of protein in human diet is animal protein, like chicken and egg. Since the majority in India are vegetarian that source is out of question. “With rising prices we are robbed of the pulse protein as well,” said Veena Shatrugna, a nutritionist formerly with the National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad.

Why prices jumped

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar blamed the jump in pulse prices on flagging imports, low production and increased purchasing power of the Indian consumer. The reduction in global production and high international prices slowed down the import of pulses in the past two years.

In 2007-08, India imported 2.85 million tonnes of pulses and next year, 2.32 million tonnes. This year imports were delayed because of late payment to exporters and low stocks with main exporting countries. “We expect imports of four million tonnes by the end of this year since there is a shortage within the country,” said K C Bhartiya, chairperson of the Pulses Importers Association.

Since India is the biggest consumer of pulses, demand within the country influences international prices. Some pulse-exporting countries factor Indian demand in their production. India is also the biggest producer of pulses.
 
So when the Indian government announces imports it immediately spikes prices in the world market because it indicates to the world market that there is an acute shortage of pulses in the country, pointed out Bhaskar Goswami, food policy analyst with the Forum for Food and Biotechnology in Delhi.

“We have become major importers of pulses and this has made us dependent on the prices dictated by the markets of Myanmar, our most important exporter,” said Rajesh Gupta, pulses importer and former vice-president of the Delhi Grain Merchant Association. Myanmar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Canada, usa and Australia are the major exporters of pulses to India.

Last fiscal, prices in international and domestic markets were high. This year international prices are lower but traders in India have not responded by appropriately reducing prices. The wholesalers and the retailers accuse each other of creating shortage by hoarding.

“Our prices reduced from Rs 85 a kg in September 2009 to Rs 55 a kg in February, but retail prices have reduced marginally from Rs 110 per kg to Rs 90 a kg. The retailers are hoarding small amounts of pulses,” Gupta said. “They are not reducing prices, for they know people would buy pulses at any rate.”

A quick trip to markets reveals a gap of 40 per cent in the retail and wholesale prices of pulses. It used to be 20-25 per cent earlier, say wholesalers.

Retailers say the supply was short because either the wholesalers were hoarding or because hypermarkets were procuring pulses in bulk. “Small grocery stores are in competition with each other, so we cannot afford to keep the prices high. But unless the stocks bought at higher prices move we will not be able to reduce prices,” Rajiv Singhal, a pulses retailer in Delhi, said.

Some analysts believe futures trading has added to the price rise. But it is difficult to say to what extent. Apart from chick-pea, which has large volumes in the national and international markets, other pulses have very small volumes to be suitable for futures trading, pointed out A Amarender Reddy, agriculture economists formerly with the Indian Institute of Pulses Research (iipr). Goswami disagrees. “Futures trading in pigeon-pea and black gram are banned but speculation in futures, which comprises 98 per cent of the activity in the commodity market, does affect prices irrespective of the quantity produced,” he said.

Gupta said if the government was serious about curbing the rising prices it would have ensured the yellow pea being sold at Kendriya Bhandars and nafed outlets for Rs 26 per kg was also sold in the open market.

Long-term neglect

The retail prices have started reducing, with domestic supply picking up and pigeon-pea imports from Myanmar. But the recent pulse crisis exposed a deeper malaise of India’s food policy. Over decades governments have neglected pulse production in the country. It has remained stagnant at 12-14 million tonnes in the past two decades and India is short of supply by two-three million tonnes annually.

India’s imports have increased from 0.58 million tonnes in 1994 to 2.3 million tonnes in 2009. It is projected to touch four million tonnes by 2012. “The supply of pulses is short, therefore, there is no buffer stock,” Reddy said. Since the world pulses market is fragmented and tiny, sourcing from international markets is unreliable and costly in the long run, he added.

Pulses have not been promoted the way wheat and rice are, though they are equally important for the Indian diet. Pulses have had low minimum support prices (msps) and are not procured by the government.

Nor has the government given as much attention to research and technological interventions in pulses as in the case of cash crops.

With the development of the seed-fertilizer-irrigation technologies for paddy, wheat and maize, fertile lands were diverted to these crops and pulses were relegated to marginal pieces of land cultivated by marginal farmers. In Madhya Pradesh’s Hoshangabad district farmers were growing pulses till 15 years ago. “As soon as irrigation was provided through Tawa Dam, pulses and millets like kodo and kutki got replaced by soybean,” said Sachin Jain, a member of Vikas Samvad, a civil society group in Bhopal.

In the past 30-35 years core pulse areas have shifted from northern states to central and southern India. Nearly 2.7 million hectares (ha) under pulses were reduced from the more suitable and fertile land in north India, while nearly 3.2 million ha were added in central and southern India. “North India had the right climatic conditions for pulses but as irrigation improved, pulses were replaced with wheat, paddy and sugarcane. The pulse area gained in central and southern India was dry and rainfed land,” said N Nadarajan, director of iipr. “This affected the yield.”

“Pulses are a victim of the political economy of crops. While rice and wheat are heavily protected, pulses are not,” Himanshu, assistant professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, said. “This has also led to smaller amounts of money for research and no technological breakthrough has happened in pulses.”

It is mainly the dearth of foreign funds that has stunted research in pulses, added Nadarajan. Rice, wheat and maize receive a lot of international intervention and funding. Since consumption of pulse crops is concentrated in South Asia, there is little research on it in other countries that can be borrowed and adopted. For developed countries like usa, Canada and Australia pulses are minor crops.

In India most research on pulses is by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (iari) and the International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (icrisat), which is breeding pigeon-pea and chick-pea. Scientists agree that very little biodiversity exists in case of pulses to develop desirable characteristics like high yield and resistance to pests. But even with available varieties and technologies, Nadarajan believes, pulse production can be increased by at least 30 per cent. “There is definitely scope for improvement in research, but even the available technology is not reaching the farmers,” he said.

The government network for reaching scientific advice and suitable seeds to farmers is weaker in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which have high potential for pulse production, than in other states. In Karakipur village in Raebareli district of Uttar Pradesh Krishna Chandra Awasthi, a retired headmaster, does not remember having seen a pulse scientist or an agriculture extension officer ever visiting the village.

Nadarajan explained that in case of paddy and wheat about 90 per cent of the farmers use certified seeds, while only 10 per cent of pulse growers use certified seeds. Research institutes provide breeder seeds and agencies like the National Seeds Corporation distribute them as certified seeds after a few cycles. Nearly 400 improved varieties of pulses have been released for cultivation since the inception of the coordinated pulse improvement programme in 1967, but only 124 varieties are in the production chain and only a dozen are popular among farmers, said Reddy.

That’s partly because the gap in yields between research stations and on-farm demonstrations and between on-farm demonstrations and farmers’ yields is significant. "There is a need for bottom-up research prioritization that starts from farmers' field conditions, with step-by-step improvement in technology and its adoption," said Reddy. One such programme, Institute-Village Linkage Program of iipr, has enabled farmers in Kanpur increase yields by 30-40 per cent of the district average, with slightly higher cost.

Private seed companies have also kept away from pulses because developing and distributing seeds are not economical. Except pigeon-pea, pulses do not have hybrids. Pulses have varieties, while rice, wheat and cotton have hybrids. In case of hybrids the farmers buy seeds from seed companies every year, while in case of varieties the seeds can be preserved and used by the farmer for a long period of time, explained J V Patil, pulses breeder and head of the botany department at Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth in Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. Patil's department has been working to create seed villages in the state for the past eight years (see: Seed village).

Since pulses are pushed to marginal farms, catering to farmers scattered over large areas involves greater logistic cost, said Reddy. So seed production is restricted to public-sector research organizations.

Small wonder the yield of pulses has remained nearly stagnant in the past 40 years at 600 kg/ha, while the yield of crops like rice, wheat and maize has increased to between 2,000 kg/ha and 3,500 kg/ha, Reddy said.

The agriculture ministry data shows an increase of 700,000 ha under pulses cultivation this year over the previous year. "But since this shift was triggered due to drought it would not boost production," said Reddy.

Risky crop

Fluctuation in yields is also high because pulses are especially susceptible to pests and diseases and are grown in rainfed areas. Pulses are rich in protein, so pests love them. Every year 2-2.4 million tonnes of pulses worth Rs 6,000 crore are lost due to pest attacks, said Reddy. More than 250 insect species are reported to affect pulses in India. Nearly a dozen cause heavy crop losses. Pod borer causes the most harm, followed by pod fly.

Shyamrao Deshmukh in Maharashtra's Buldhana district said he spent more than Rs 2,000 per acre (0.4 ha) on pesticides this year, but the pulse yield did not increase much.

Neelgais also love pulse crops. Till about five years ago farmers in Harchandrapur block of Raebareli grew sufficient pulses for themselves. Then the neelgai population increased in the area. "They trample through the fields. We noticed they prefer pulses, so we stopped growing pulses," said Awasthi of Karakipur village. Awasthi owns 3 ha. Till a few years ago he planted legumes in 1.5 ha but today he sows pulses on just a tenth of a hectare. Neelgai attacks have reduced the yield of pulses from almost 400 kg per acre (0.4 ha) to 150 kg, while the yield of wheat and paddy stays between 1,000-1,200 kg.

The yield of pulses has traditionally been lower than that of cereals. Pulse plants have other inherent disadvantages as well. Pulses are slow crops because they need a lot of heat energy to break down the protein molecules required for growth. They mature in 8-10 months; farmers can have two paddy crops in a year, instead. Nodules also slow pulse growth. Until the nodule grows there can be no growth in pulses, and that does not happen for 40-50 days, Deshmukh said.

Pulses are extremely sensitive to heat and cold. Too much energy quickens flowering but reduces the seed potential, Deshmukh said. Cool season pulses like chick-pea are often subjected to chilling temperatures in north India, but there has not been a breakthrough in chill- and frost-tolerant varieties.

The disadvantages and risks involved in growing pulses are not compensated by the msp. For pulses (pigeon-pea) the msp of Rs 2,300 per 100 kg is higher than the msp of Rs 1,080 per 100 kg for paddy. But while paddy yields about 3,000 kg per ha, pulses have a national average yield of 600 kg per ha. Even when market prices of pigeon-pea were ruling above Rs 100 per kg, the msp was Rs 23 per kg.

With so little attention from scientists and policy makers, pulses remain unattractive to farmers. As P S Deshmukh, head of the plant physiology department at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, put it, "Rice and wheat are treated like sons, while pulses are treated like daughters. The farmers pay attention to the cereal crops but think pulses would grow on their own."

The agriculture ministry data shows between 1971 and 2008 the production of pulses in India rose by 33 per cent and the area by 9.5 per cent. But the increase has not been commensurate with the increase in demand.

Bad news for health

The widening gap between production and demand is reflected in the decrease in per capita consumption of pulses. Between 1972-73 and 2004-05 pulses consumption in rural areas reduced from 4.3 per cent of the food intake to 3.1 per cent; in urban areas it slipped from 3.4 per cent to 2.1 per cent, according to a Planning Commission report. The rural protein consumption came down by over 8 per cent during the same period, while urban consumption remained the same.

The Indian Council of Medical Research recommends 65 g of pulses for an adult every day. “That level was never met. People were actually consuming 40 g per day, and this has now reduced to 30 g per day due to high prices,” nutritionist Veena Shatrugna said.

In a country with 46 per cent malnourished children, this can have serious consequences.

“Protein deficiency affects child growth and metabolic functions. These are at the molecular level and no attention will be paid unless there are a large number of protein deficiency cases like Kwashiorkor,” said Shatrugna. “A slowdown in metabolic functions, like break down of fat and sugar, could lead to obesity and diabetes.”

The impact is beginning to show in some of the most backward areas. In Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district 70 children belonging to the Korku tribe died of malnutrition in 2008. Similar deaths occurred in Jhabua and Sidhi districts in end-2009. A study by a civil society organization showed the Korkus had stopped taking mainstream pulses—pigeon-pea, green gram, red lentil and black gram—for almost a year.

About 78 per cent Korku children are undernourished. “They have replaced main pulses with batla dal or dried peas, which is a vegetable. That too is available at Rs 40 a kg,” said Sachin Jain a member of Vikas Samvad.

The Korkus are marginal farmers who grow pulses for their own consumption. This year because of higher prices they sold their pulses at Rs 20-25 a kg to buy cheaper food.

The Planning Commission suggests distributing pulses through the targeted public distribution system. This would require increasing production.

Trial and error

The National Food Security Mission launched in 2008 aims at increasing the production of rice, wheat and pulses. It targets increasing the production of pulses by two million tonnes by 2012. Area under pulse cultivation (24 million ha at present) will be increased by 4.05 million ha (see: Mission possible).

The government proposes using rice fallows and intercropping with wider spaced crops. It has roped in icrisat along with agriculture universities in Raipur and Jabalpur for working with farmers. “We have 3,000 farmers working with us in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The trial cultivations are done on the fields of small and marginal farmers. We are training farmers in using seed varieties and cultivation pattern so that next year they can train more farmers,” said Suresh Pande, principal scientist at icrisat.

Rainfed rice fallows are the best option, said Pande. The rainfed area under paddy cultivation is 10.65 million hectares. This land remains fallow after harvest and can be used for growing pulses, grain legumes and food legumes. “Since paddy grows in stagnant water, the soil is rich in moisture. Even if the moisture content is less the legumes being drought-resistant and deep-rooted can take in the required moisture from the soil,” he added.

Introducing short-term paddy varieties like mtu 1010, which is suitable in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, would ensure the field is vacated 10 days in advance for planting legumes, especially the cool season food legumes like chick-pea, grass-pea, red lentil, green gram and black gram.

Growing paddy is not very profitable in parts of Jharkhand, so Pande suggests replacing paddy with pigeon-pea or double cropping with short-duration pulses. Scientists at icrisat suggest intercropping without replacing main cereals in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. By rotating paddy with pigeon-pea and wheat with chick-pea the farmers can replenish the soil.

To make pulses profitable, the cost should be brought down by developing short-duration and pest-resistant varieties, agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan said. Research is on to improve pulses varieties. icrisat has developed hybrid pigeon-pea (icph 8 is more popular) that will increase yield. Agricultural research institutes claim they are in a position to release hybrids of major pulse crops within three years. Reddy said iipr scientists are also trying to develop Bt chick-pea resistant to pod borer.

The cost can also be brought down by eliminating middlemen in distribution of certified seeds. The seed villages initiative by Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth has made farmers self-sufficient in pulse seeds in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

A similar initiative by M S Swaminathan Research Foundation has set up pulses villages in Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai, the drier districts of Tamil Nadu. Farmer families in these villages are growing pulses on 160 ha. The mandate of the foundation was to ensure the people harvest water in community farm ponds and irrigate the pulses field the moment they show moisture stress.

Since the entire village produces pulses use of pesticides comes down. “If there are individual farmers they will end up using a lot of pesticide and that will eventually hurt the crop,” Swaminathan said. Field experiments show integrated pest management and integrated nutrient management techniques will stabilize yields at levels 20 per cent to 60 per cent higher than normal.

Swaminathan suggests digging farm ponds in rainfed areas under the rural employment programme since of the 24 million ha under pulses in India hardly 2.5 million ha is under irrigation.

Providing micronutrients like sulphur and zinc at subsidized rates, rather than npk, will also help pulse farmers.

Agriculture scientists say farmers can use certain properties of pulses—they fix nitrogen and consume less water—to improve soil health. It is estimated that chick-pea can fix (convert atmospheric nitrogen to organic nitrogen) up to 140 kg nitrogen per hectare in the growing period. Long-duration pigeon-pea in northern India, grown over a 40-week period, can fix up to 200 kg nitrogen per hectare. “A leguminous plant is very rich in nitrogen, so while the root fixes nitrogen in the soil, the other parts, when they decompose, further improve the nitrogen content as well as the organic carbon content in the soil,” A Subba Rao, director of the Indian Institute of Soil Sciences in Bhopal, said.

With depleting groundwater, pulses are a good recourse because they are less thirsty. The chick-pea yield is 12 kg for every kilogramme of water in a hectare, while the wheat and paddy yield is six and three kilogrammes respectively.

“Pulses are dryland crops and if farmers were given the right price incentive followed by procurement, they would have delivered,” said C S C Shekhar, assistant professor at the Institute of Economic Growth in Delhi.


Down to Earth, March, 2010, http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20100228&filename=news&sid=25&page=1&sec_id=9
 

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