www.fao.org/pulses-2016/en/ International Year of Pulses - Global Dialogue - The IYP Action Plan: major outputs - Vikas Rawal, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

1. The Global Economy of Pulses

2. 2
Growth of Production (mill. tonnes)
Year 2001 2014
Dry beans 18 24
Chickpea 8 13
Dry pea 11 11
Cowpea 4 7
Lentil 3 5
Pigeon pea 3 4
All pulses 56 77

3. 3
Exports 2001 2013
Dry bean 2.7 4.2
Dry pea 3.5 4.5
Lentil 1.1 2.2
Chickpea 0.8 1.6
Faba bean 0.5 0.8
Total pulses 8.8 13.6
Crop 2001 2013
Export and Import of Pulses

4. • Highly susceptible to diseases and pests
• Compete poorly with weeds, making weed control difficult and
expensive.
• Abiotic stresses like salinity, prolonged drought, flooding, frost, high/low
temperature are a problem
• Development of high-yielding, short-duration, disease resistant varieties
has been key to growth
– Self-pollinating crops; no hybrids except pigeonpea
– Short-duration varieties can be grown as a second/third crop
– Improved heat resistance in cool-season crops like chickpea
– Diseases caused by different plant pathogens
– Mechanical harvestability in developed countries
• The role of price stimulus?
4
Yield Constraints and Drivers of Growth

5. 5
Costs, Margins and Incomes
• Margins in pulse production are lower than in
competing crops
• We collected data on cost and gross margins for
many countries, and to compare, converted them
to equivalent pulse quantity.
• Per hectare margins are lower in countries with
small producers than in countries with large
industrial-scale farms
• Large farms have lower per hectare cost and
higher yield. No-till production with pre-sowing/pre-
emergence application of herbicides, use of
inoculants.
• Huge difference in scale means huge disparity
between incomes of large, industrial-scale farms
and smallholder producers.

6. • Value chains in developing countries are long, with many layers of
middlemen.
– In Africa and Asia, producers sell their crop to village-level
traders, who then sell it to wholesalers, millers
– In South Asia, the largest market for pulses, pulses are mainly
consumed after milling. Milling industry has seen an increasing
consolidation because of economies of scale and increasing
international trade
• Large scale of farming and vertical integration has resulted in shorter
value chains in North America and Australia.
6
Value Chains in Pulses

7. • Large gap between producer prices and consumer prices
– Large seasonal fluctuations in retail prices,
– Lack of farm-level storage infrastructure
• No country maintains large public stocks of pulses
– India has proposed to do expand public procurement and public
stocks of pulses under the National Food Security Act. But this is
yet to be implemented.
7
Value Chains in Pulses

8. • Large gaps between potential and actual yields, particularly on
smallholder farms, can be closed with greater adoption of improved
varieties and modern agronomic practices.
– This would require a major thrust on agricultural extension, improving
credit availability, and public investment.
• Biologically, pulses have a yield disadvantage over cereals and other
competing crops
• But pulses can be important
– for ending malnutrition
– mitigating contribution of agriculture to climate change
• In view of these societal and environmental benefits of pulses, policy
instruments need to be identified to support farmers who grow pulses.
8
Policy Priorities for Future Growth

9. • An increase in public spending on research on pulses
– At present, only about 1 per cent of total public spending on
agricultural research is used for research on pulses
• Increasing importance of international trade requires strengthening of
standards and regulation.
9
Policy Priorities for Future Growth

10. 10
Thank you
Vikas Rawal
Professor
Centre for Economic Studies and Planning
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
and
Trustee, Society for Social and Economic Research
Email: vikasrawal@gmail.com