Pulses are not only a major source of proteins for humans but are environment friendly also. Every class of Indian society invariably includes pulses in their daily diet. Hence, it is natural for India to be the largest producer of pulses in the world. The demand of pulses is increasing fast due to insufficient global supply. Despite being the largest producer, India is adversely affected due to the deficiency in global pulses supply. To feed the large Indian population, we import a huge quantum of pulses (approximately 3–4 million tonnes annually). Productivity of pulses in India is lower than the global average which has led to demand-supply imbalance in the country. This productivity gap, if not tackled aptly and timely, may also serve as a source of inevitable Pulses-Crisis in India in coming years. Insufficient productivity of pulses in India (dependency on monsoon and cultivation of pulses on marginal/degraded lands) along with other factors such as wide gap in price received by the producer and paid by the consumer, inefficient procurement system for pulses resulting in inadequate net returns from pulses, are causing disinterest among farmers ’for pulse cultivation. After having understood gravity of the situation Indian Government has target to tackle domestic supply bottlenecks of pulses through launching pulses production programmes viz., Accelerated Pulses Production Program (A3P); Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses and Maize (ISOPAM) and the National Food Security Mission (NFSM).Efforts of the government in this direction, have started producing favourable results in the recent years, however, we still need to do a lot in this direction.
