(HT)
The government is turning to the northeast to help remedy a shortfall in the production of pulses and thereby tame food inflation.
The Centre plans to launch a dedicated programme to leverage the high productivity potential of pulses in the 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 a five-year roadmap. Details of additional land to be cultivated and 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.”
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.
The ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute in Meghalaya noted in a report that 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 northeast contributes less than 2% of India’s total area under pulse cultivation—estimated at 250,000 to 300,000 hectares, as per 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.
Key pulses grown 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.
“We will provide technical assistance and better varieties of seeds to enhance production of pulses in the northeastern region. It has been observed that 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.”
Queries emailed to the consumer affairs ministry remained unanswered till press time.
