Pulses Mission Turns One: ₹11,440 Crore Plan | CLAT GK

CURRENT AFFAIRS | 13 OCTOBER 2026

The Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses — India’s six-year plan to become self-reliant in pulses by 2030–31 — completed its first year on Sunday, 11 October 2026. Marking the anniversary, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) published a research factsheet, “India’s Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses”, posted at 12:29 PM on 11 October 2026 under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. It sets out what the Mission promised and what the first year has delivered.

The Mission was launched on 11 October 2025 with a financial allocation of ₹11,440 crore spanning 2025–26 to 2030–31. It concentrates on three pulses — tur (arhar), urad and masoor — and promises 100% procurement of all three at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) by NAFED and NCCF from registered farmers for four years. According to the factsheet, India’s pulse production in 2025–26 was estimated at 274.09 lakh tonnes (third advance estimates), against a target of nearly 350 lakh tonnes by 2030–31.

Why pulses matter

The PIB factsheet describes India as the world’s largest producer of pulses. Pulses contain 20–25% protein — in the factsheet’s words, more than double that of wheat and nearly three times that of rice — which makes them central to India’s nutritional security, especially for a largely vegetarian population. Yet domestic output has not kept pace with demand, and India has relied on imports of tur, urad and masoor in particular. Those imports cost foreign exchange and leave consumers exposed to price shocks abroad.

The Mission therefore has three stated aims: boost domestic production, reduce import dependence, and raise farmers’ income through a value-chain approach that covers seeds, cultivation, procurement and processing.

What the Mission promises

According to the factsheet, the Mission’s targets for 2030–31 are production of nearly 350 lakh tonnes and yield of 1,130 kg per hectare. The key measures are:

• a focus on tur, urad and masoor;
• promotion of climate-resilient seeds and better seed quality;
• distribution of 87.5 lakh free seed kits and 126 lakh quintals of certified seeds over six years;
• expanding pulse area by 35 lakh hectares to a total of 310 lakh hectares by 2030–31;
• a cluster-based approach covering 489 districts;
• 1,000 processing units (dal mills); and
• assured procurement of tur, urad and masoor via NCCF and NAFED from willing, registered farmers.

Year one: the numbers

The factsheet reports that total pulse production rose from 256.83 lakh tonnes in 2024–25 to 274.09 lakh tonnes in 2025–26. The area under pulses grew from 277.20 lakh hectares to 286.46 lakh hectares, and national yield improved from 926 kg/ha to 957 kg/ha. The main pulse-growing States named include Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

On trade, the factsheet says pulse imports fell 31.52%, from ₹46,427.60 crore in 2024–25 to ₹31,793.59 crore in 2025–26, while exports rose 13.40%, from USD 855 million to USD 969.53 million. Export volume reached 10.01 lakh tonnes.

Procurement expanded from about 18.40 lakh tonnes in 2024–25 to about 31.41 lakh tonnes in 2025–26. MSPs were raised for 2026–27: tur ₹8,450 per quintal, urad ₹8,200 and masoor ₹7,000. On infrastructure, 528 of the planned 1,000 processing units have been allocated to States and UTs in the first phase, and 9.25 lakh seed kits were distributed during Rabi 2025–26 for rice-fallow areas.

Analysis: what the first year tells us

The headline numbers point in the right direction — higher output, more area, better yield and a sharp fall in the import bill. Three cautions are worth noting. First, 274.09 lakh tonnes is an advance estimate, and advance estimates are often revised. Second, pulses are largely rain-fed, so one good or bad monsoon can swing output sharply; a single year does not make a trend. Third, the gap to the target is still large: moving from about 274 to 350 lakh tonnes in five years means an increase of roughly 28%, which depends mostly on yield — from 957 to 1,130 kg/ha — rather than area alone.

The design choice of assured procurement addresses a long-standing problem: farmers shift away from pulses when market prices fall below MSP at harvest. By guaranteeing purchase for four years, the Mission tries to reduce that price risk. The trade-off is fiscal cost and storage; the factsheet reports MSP payments running into thousands of crores. Whether farmers stay with pulses after the four-year guarantee ends is the question the Mission will have to answer.

The bigger picture

The Mission is part of a wider push towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat in food. India achieved self-sufficiency in cereals after the Green Revolution, but pulses and edible oils remained import-dependent. Pulses also help soil health, because legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen, which is why the Mission promotes them in rice-fallow lands after the paddy harvest. Processing capacity matters too: the factsheet notes 23 pulse-processing units approved under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana, of which 18 have been completed.