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India's Pulse Production

There are two crops in India, namely Kharif (summer crop) harvested in September and Rabi (winter crop) harvested in March/April. Major kharif pulses are green beans (moong beans), black matpe (urad), pigeon peas (arhar/tur), and cow peas (lobhia), while major rabi harvested pulses include chickpeas, green peas and lentils. Pulse is a common name for all varieties of dry peas, lentils, beans, and chickpeas. A wide range of pulses is grown in India, such as, chickpeas (desi and kabuli type) pigeon peas, black matpe, mung beans, lentils, moth beans, horsegrams, and peas. About 10% of the desi chickpeas grown in India are green-seeded. They remain green in colour even when dried. The growth in pulses production has not kept pace with population growth, resulting in an overall decline in per capita availability, and higher prices of pulses. Production of all pulse crops during the last four years (July-June crop year) is as follows:

India: Production of pulses

Madhya Pradesh is the biggest pulse producing state with about 25% of the total production, followed by Uttar Pradesh (18%), Maharashtra (15%), Rajasthan (14%), Karnataka (5%), Andhra Pradesh (5%), and Bihar (5%). Generally, pulses are grown in both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) crops. Chickpeas, lentils and dry peas are grown in cool season (rabi crop), while pigeon peas, black matpe, mung beans, horsegram, and moth beans are produced in the warm rainy season (kharif crop). Some major pulse crops are grown in the following states:

A very small share of pulse acreage (about 10-12 per cent) is irrigated, reflecting both the rain fed conditions in traditional pulse-growing areas, and the inability of relatively low-productivity pulses to compete with other crops, such as, wheat and rice, in irrigated land. Pulse production is also hampered by the minimum support prices (MSP) for pulses, announced by the government every year and which are generally below market prices. Thus, the farmer rarely utilizes the government assistance. In contrast, the MSP and government procurement programs for wheat and rice are more attractive encouraging farmers to grow those crops. The government has been operating several programmes with the objective to increase production of pulses, namely:

* National Pulses Development Project funded jointly by the central and the state governments.
* Post harvest technology in pulses.
* Price support and commercial operations in pulses.

India's Pulse Consumption

Pulses are an important source of protein in the Indian diet. Although, dairy products are widely consumed, majority of Indians do not eat meat due to religious reasons. Due to stagnant production of pulses, rising population and limited imports, the per capita availability of pulses has come down to 29.1 grams per day in 2001, as compared with over 70.0 grams in mid fifties.

Almost each household in India use pulses. Although, particular varieties of pulses are preferred in different parts of the country, food habits are easily changed according to availability of pulses. Indian market is also price sensitive, if the price of one particular variety of pulse goes up, people switch on to other varieties. Most pulses are generally consumed in split form either with or without the skin. However, green peas and kabuli chickpeas (known as garbanzo beans) are consumed whole. On an average about 10% of the production of desi chickpeas and pigeon peas is used for animal feed. Generally main usage of pulses in India is as follows:

Marketing: 

In most cases wholesalers and dal mills are importers themselves. Frequency of transactions is highest at the wholesale level, as commodities change hands several times with the assistance of brokers or commission agents.

Samples of different varieties of pulses are displayed by the wholesalers at their shops. By looking at these samples, the retailers or sometimes the millers, buy the product.

Quality Products:

There are no quality standards in India. Most of the pulses are classified as "fair to average quality" (FAQ) which is the only recognized grade in the Indian marketing system. This grade is also not standardized and people assess the grade by visual inspection of colour, size and texture. However, moisture content is also considered while importing pulses.

Imports:

The Indian Government continues to permit private trade to import pulses without any licensing restrictions to supplement domestic availability. However, the importer has to obtain an ‘import permit’ issued by the Plant & Quarantine Department of the Ministry of Agriculture prior to the date of shipment, at a nominal fee of Rs.150/-. The import permit also specifies the additional endorsements regarding fumigation and freedom of the exporting country from specified diseases/pests, to be added on the phyto-sanitary certificate. The import permit is generally valid for a period of six months, and can cover any number of shipments up to a specified quantity from the same supplier. In order to control the prices of pulses in the domestic market, the government increases or decreases the import duty from time to time. At present, there is ‘nil’ duty on import of pulses into India.

A phyto-sanitary certificate that the "plants and plant products described in the shipping documents have been inspected according to appropriate procedures and are considered to be free from quarantine pests, and practically free from other injurious pests, and that they are considered to conform to the current phyto-sanitary regulations of the importing country", issued by a competent authority must accompany each shipment. The additional endorsement as stated above, should also be mentioned on the phyto-sanitary certificate. In the absence of a phyto-sanitary certificate, the shipment is generally not released by the Plant and Quarantine officials at the port of entry.

Main varieties of pulses imported from various sources include: Green/yellow peas (Canada, USA, Hungary, New Zealand, France, Germany); Dun Peas (Australia); Desi chickpeas (Canada, Australia, Tanzania, China, Ethiopia); Kabuli chickpeas (Canada, Australia, Mexico, USA, Turkey, Iran); Lentils (Canada, Australia, Turkey). Potential for other varieties of peas and pulses which are fit for human consumption and are cheaper, can be investigated. India's imports of peas/pulses during the last few years were as follows:

Exports:

India also exports different varieties of pulses, particularly red lentils and kabuli chickpeas to various destinations. Its exports in the last few years were as follows:   

Competition:

India is a very competitive and price-sensitive market. While quality is an important factor, price plays a major role in decision making by buyers. Of late, several new sources of supply of dried green/yellow peas, Kabuli chickpeas, lentils and other varieties have emerged making India a Buyers' market.

International quality standards and grading system:

The traders generally accept 'fair to average' (FAQ) quality as a standard for domestic production, as India has not formulated its own quality standards yet. However, standards of the exporting countries are followed for imported pulses. For example, while importing from Canada, they follow the Canadian Grain Commission standards, or NACMA (National Agricultural Commodities Marketing Association Ltd) standards for imports from Australia or trade rules set up by the National Dry Bean Council in case of imports from USA. When an exporting country also does not have any quality standards, the following quality parameters are considered for evaluating the quality, which are also incorporated in the sales contract:

• foreign matter
• size of the grain
• damaged, discoloured, weeviled, other seeds
• moisture content
• colour of the grains
India is a big market, with potential to expand up to 3.0 to 3.5 million tonnes or more of imports of peas and pulses annually.

• It is important for suppliers to maintain consistent quality in order to have a strong foothold in the market.

• Services of a suitable indenting agent become very handy, and should be used extensively.

• Some new sources of supply have emerged during the last few years. Traditional suppliers should keep their relations with the Indian buyers in the top gear.

What can Canny Overseas do for you

Increase productivity: We can assist you in increasing the productivity of pulses by doing research.

Varietal improvement: We can assist you in improving the varieties of your produce to suite the consumer requirement in India and other importing countries. We can also assist in exploring the possibility of growing more varieties of pulses suiting to your soil and weather conditions.

Value-addition: We can do a feasibility study to set up a processing plant in your area for cleaning; grading; packaging; and transporting your produce for export markets.

Marketing: We can assist you in marketing your products at competitive prices in your domestic market, in the export market, and through tenders floated by aid agencies, such as, USAID for World Food Program.

Prepared by :

Canny Overseas Private Ltd.

email: canny@cannyoverseas.com
Updated: January 2008.