Centre plans to leverage high productivity in northeastern states to boost output of pulses, ease food inflation

The Centre plans to launch a dedicated programme to leverage the high productivity potential of pulses grown in India’s northeastern region and expand the cultivable area as it seeks to ease food inflation, two people said.

The Department of Consumer Affairs will shortly hold consultations with the state governments of Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, and Assam to identify land to grow pulses and draw up a five-year roadmap. Details of the additional land to be cultivated and the anticipated production levels are expected after the meeting.

“The region has been specifically chosen given that these states’ average productivity is higher than the national average. These states have also traditionally depended on pulse supplies from other parts of the country, which, coupled with supply constraints and high transportation costs, has kept retail prices elevated," one person said. "In the initial years, farmers will be encouraged to follow best agricultural practices to help increase production, and in the later years, the plan is to expand coverage by utilising fallow land."

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The move will be significant for India’s food security, given that import of pulses has been rising even though the area under cultivation has increased and domestic yields fluctuate.

Pulses, both khariff and rabi, were cultivated on 27.6 million hectares (mh) in FY25, barely changed from 27.5 mh a year earlier. Tur (arhar) alone accounted for 4.33 mh in FY25 compared with 4.13 mh in FY24. However, the yield declined from 902 kg per hectare in FY23 to 881 kg/ha in FY24, before rising slightly to 914 kg/ha in FY25.

Production potential

The ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute in Meghalaya noted in a report that the average productivity of pulses in the northeast was 1,049 kg/ha. This reflects the potential to scale up production in the region, which continues to face an 82% shortfall in meeting its pulse requirements.

Despite favourable agro-climatic conditions, the northeastern region contributes less than 2% of India’s total area under pulse cultivation—estimated at 250,000 to 300,000 hectares, according to data from the ministry of agriculture & farmers welfare. Assam accounts for almost 100,000 hectares, followed by Manipur with 40,000 hectares, Tripura with 30,000 hectares, and Meghalaya with 25,000 hectares. The other states—Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim—collectively cover 80,000-100,000 hectares, according to the data.

The key pulses grown in the northeast include lentil (masur), black gram (urad), green gram (moong), and field pea, mostly cultivated as rabi crops after the paddy harvest. However, productivity remains inconsistent due to the limited use of improved varieties, minimal input support, and reliance on rainfed farming.

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“We will provide technical assistance and better varieties of seeds to enhance the production of pulses in the northeastern region. It has been observed that the higher prices of this essential commodity in the region contribute to the overall inflation figures. Our objective is to increase local production in these states so they can become self-reliant, and prices can come down," the second person said. “We are in the process of planning a strategy to significantly increase the production of pulses over the next five years. This initiative will be part of the Mission for Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in Pulses."

Comparative prices

As per data from the consumer affairs ministry on 29 May, chana dal was sold at ₹93.28 per kg in the northeast compared with ₹84.81 per kg in northern India, ₹85 in the western region, ₹88.41 in the south, and ₹83.60 in the eastern zone.

Tur dal in the northeast was priced at ₹137.04 per kg, far above ₹119.37 in the south, ₹120.88 in the west, ₹124.07 in the east, and ₹126.09 in the north.

Moong dal prices retailed at ₹118.25 per kg in the northeast, significantly higher than ₹109.69 in three zones and ₹114.66 in the South. Masoor dal was sold at ₹92.84 per kg in the region, against an average of ₹87.42 in the rest of the country.

In her FY26 budget speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the launch of the six-year Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, with a special focus on tur (pigeonpea), urad (black gram), and masoor (red lentil). The government has allocated ₹1,000 crore to the scheme, which aims to provide minimum support price (MSP)-based procurement from farmers and post-harvest warehousing solutions for the three key crops.

India's production of pulses stood at 26.06 million tonnes in FY23 and declined to 24.2 million tonnes in FY24 due to adverse weather and other challenges. While production is estimated to recover to 25.2 million tonnes in FY25, signaling cautious optimism amid ongoing efforts to boost output, this recovery won’t be sufficient to meet domestic demand, prompting a sharp rise in imports.

As per government data, the import of pulses rose from about 2.5 million tonnes in FY23 to 4.74 million tonnes in FY24, and further to an estimated 6.7 million tonnes in FY25—a nine-year high—driven by a favourable duty structure and relatively benign domestic prices.

Food inflation

Retail inflation eased to an almost six-year low of 3.16% in April, mainly due to subdued prices of vegetables, fruits, pulses and other protein-rich items. Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index was 3.34% in March and 4.83% in April 2024. It was 3.15% in July 2019.

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Data from the National Statistics Office showed a sharp decline of 91 basis points in food inflation in April from the level in March. Food inflation was 1.78% in April, the lowest since October 2021, compared with 2.69% in the preceding month and 8.7% a year ago, the data showed.

“The objective is well-conceived in bringing down prices. It is a fact that higher prices of essential commodities in the northeastern parts add to overall inflation. Increasing production will also help in enhancing the income of farmers," said Binod Anand, a member of the government’s committee on MSP, which guarantees procurement of a farmer’s produce at a fixed price.

Queries emailed to the consumer affairs ministry remained unanswered till press time.