India's Quiet 'Pulses Revolution' To Serve 100% Homegrown Dal

For decades, India has carried a paradox on its plate. The country that feeds the world on dal is also the world's largest consumer, producer, and importer of pulses. From tur and urad to masoor, the protein backbone of Indian diets has routinely come from the US, Africa, Myanmar, Australia and Canada. Every bowl of sambar or dal tadka has quietly carried the weight of global supply chains and volatile imports.

That paradox is now set to end. Even as the White House briefly flirted with the idea of tariff concessions on "certain pulses", a reference that was quickly scrubbed from its official trade fact sheet, India has made it clear that the future of dal will not be dictated by overseas pressure or presidential tantrums. Instead, it will be shaped in Indian fields, Indian laboratories, and by Indian farmers. The signal could not be clearer: India is on the cusp of a Pulses Revolution.

Beyond Tariffs, Towards Self-Reliance

The fleeting mention of "certain pulses" in a US trade document earlier this week triggered political ripples in Delhi. Pulses are not just another commodity. They are nutritionally vital, culturally embedded, and politically sensitive. Any hint of opening the floodgates to imports touches a raw nerve in a country where nearly 20-25 per cent of protein intake comes from pulses.

But the swift removal of that reference from the revised White House fact sheet underlined a deeper truth: India is no longer negotiating from a position of weakness.

That confidence flows directly from a major policy shift announced late last year. On October 11, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launched the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, a six-year, Rs 11,440 crore national programme aimed at nothing less than ending India's import dependence on dal. The mission targets a dramatic scale-up of domestic production to 350 lakh tonnes and expansion of cultivation to 310 lakh hectares by 2030-31.

Just as crucially, it promises 100 per cent procurement at minimum support price (MSP) for three politically and nutritionally critical pulses - tur (arhar), urad and masoor, for four years. Nearly two crore farmers are expected to benefit through assured procurement, free seed kits, certified seeds and value-chain support. This is not a defensive policy. It is an offensive one.

The Science That Makes The Promise Credible

Policy announcements alone do not start revolutions. Seeds do. Standing in a pigeon pea field at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad earlier this year, the optimism was palpable, and grounded in science.

"India is the largest producer, consumer and also importer of pulses. All three distinctions are with India," says Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General of ICRISAT. "We produce around 25 million tonnes of pulses, but we still import five to six million tonnes every year, depending on the season."

The weakness, he says, lies not in demand but in productivity. Average yields for pulses hover around 800-900 kg per hectare, far below their potential.

"That productivity has to go up to 1.4 or 1.5 tonnes per hectare," Dr Pathak says. "And that is entirely possible with the varieties we now have."

ICRISAT, working closely with Indian research institutions, has developed a new generation of pigeon pea, or tur, varieties that could be game-changers.

One such variety, ICB 25444, matures in just 120-125 days, compared to the traditional 170-180 days. It delivers yields of up to 2.5 tonnes per hectare, sometimes even higher. It is short-statured, resistant to lodging, machine-harvestable, photo-insensitive, and tolerant of temperatures up to 45 degree Celsius. In short, it is climate-smart, farmer-friendly, and designed for scale.

"These varieties can deliver both vertical and horizontal growth," Dr Pathak says. "Higher yields on existing land, and expansion into new areas, including summer seasons and rice fallows, where pulses were earlier not grown."

Rewriting India's Cropping Map

One of the most radical ideas embedded in the Pulse Mission is crop substitution. India currently grows rice on nearly 44 million hectares, including 6-7 million hectares of upland, rain-fed rice where productivity is low and water stress is high. These areas, experts argue, are ideal candidates for pulses.

"The amount of water used to grow one rice crop," Dr Pathak notes, "you can grow five pigeon pea crops with the same water."

Pulses also fix atmospheric nitrogen, improving soil health rather than depleting it. In an era of climate stress, groundwater depletion and fertiliser overuse, they offer ecological security alongside food security. This is why the Pulse Mission is not just about dal. It is about rebalancing Indian agriculture.

Seeds, Procurement And Trust

For decades, farmers hesitated to grow pulses despite their nutritional importance. The reasons were simple: yield uncertainty, price volatility and unreliable procurement. The new mission tackles all three head-on. It provides for 88 lakh free seed kits, 126 lakh quintals of certified seeds, five-year rolling seed production plans, and real-time monitoring through the SATHI portal. Procurement will be handled by NAFED and NCCF, ensuring farmers are not left at the mercy of traders.

"Once farmers know there is assured procurement at remunerative prices, they will grow pulses," Dr Pathak says. "Within the next four to five years, India can absolutely position itself as self-sufficient."

That timeline aligns neatly with the government's own goal of ending import dependence well before 2030.

From Importer To Exporter?

India currently imports nearly 15-20 per cent of its pulse requirement, spending billions of dollars annually. Ironically, it also exports smaller quantities of certain pulses. The mission aims to flip that equation.

If productivity gains materialise and rice fallows are brought under pulses, India could not only meet domestic demand but eventually stabilise global pulse markets, turning from a price-taker into a price-setter. At that point, tariff threats from Washington or elsewhere will matter far less.

A Quiet, Structural Shift

Unlike the Green Revolution, this one is quieter. There are no dramatic headlines yet, no overnight transformations. But the building blocks are falling into place, policy, procurement, and science and farmer confidence.

The White House may edit fact sheets. Presidents may issue tariff threats. But the real story is unfolding far from negotiating tables, in seed labs, in semi-arid fields, and in the slow rebuilding of trust between farmers and the state.

When that revolution matures, the label "largest importer of pulses" will quietly disappear from India's description.

And your next bowl of tur or arhar dal? Chances are, it will be entirely home-grown.