The government has signed a trade agreement with Mozambique for pulses just two days ago.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his 4-nation Africa tour with Mozambique, a country that could play a big role in bridging the gap in India's pulses demand.
The government has signed a trade agreement with Mozambique for pulses just two days ago. The move will ensure one lakh ton of pulses in 2016-17. "This is a government-to-government agreement. We will get pulses that suit India's taste. We hope to double this by 2020," said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad during the cabinet briefing.
India's estimated production of 17.2 million tons is well short of the demand of over 22 million tons.
So while this deal may ease some of that pressure, why is India still struggling to bridge the gap with more production in the country? Kishor Kakade, a 30-year-old farmer from Maharashtra's Akola district, who has sown arhar and urad in his 8-acre field, says the demand-supply gap at the market gives him no guarantee of a good rate.
"We are getting even less than the market rate. Last year, when we were getting Rs4,500, the market rate was Rs12,000. Our production costs are going up, but we aren't getting assured returns," he said.
Another farmer from Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur region, known for its pulses production said, "It takes a long time for the pulses crop to harvest. Some farmers prefer to take two crops in the same time since it cuts on their risks."
It's not just the minimum support price that's bothering farmers. Experts say even when it comes to technology, lot can be done to improve productivity.
"The yield of most of our pulses crops is very low, for most it is 6-8 tons per hectare. Countries like Australia, Canada that took some of our varieties have much better yield than us. Yield can be more than doubled if we just transfer existing technology to farmers. We have the technology but it needs a better extension system," Agricultural Economist Professor T Haque told NDTV.
Two years of drought has certainly hit domestic production, but till India can successfully implement the tagline of 'more crop, per drop', the problem of pulses and it's shortage, is unlikely to go away anytime soon.