This is the result of a recent study on the “Role of Pulses in Enhancing Nutritional Status of Rural Poor: Micro-Level Evidence from Semi-Arid Tropics of India” by R Padmaja, P Soumitra and MCS Bantilan http://oar.icrisat.org/9821/. It is based on primary data from the ICRISAT Village Level Studies (VLS) nutrition surveys conducted in 8 villages in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states together with longitudinal panel micro-level data for 6 villages in Telangana and Maharashtra from 2009 to 2014

1. Figure 1. Trends in area and pulse production in India. Source:
RBI year book.
Figure 2. Trends in area and production of pulses in VLS study
villages. Source: ICRISAT VLS­VDSA database
STUDY REVEALS PULSES AS IMPORTANT SOURCE
OF PROTEIN IN INDIA
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Pulses are the main source of protein to mitigate malnutrition in children
Pulses continue to be a major source of protein in Indian diets
and play a vital role in sustaining agricultural growth.
Increasing pulse production is therefore important for
improving food availability, soil health, diet quality and
nutrition security. Today is Global Pulse Day. And a study by
ICRISAT reveals that there is reason for optimism on the pulse
production side in India. While trends in the area under pulses
did not increase significantly from 2000 to 2014, apart from
some fluctuations in area here and there, production has
shown an upward trend (Figure 1).
This is the result of a recent study on the “Role of Pulses in
Enhancing Nutritional Status of Rural Poor: Micro­Level
Evidence from Semi­Arid Tropics of India” by R Padmaja, P
Soumitra and MCS Bantilan http://oar.icrisat.org/9821/. It is
based on primary data from the ICRISAT Village Level
Studies (VLS) nutrition surveys conducted in 8 villages in
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states together
with longitudinal panel micro­level data for 6 villages in Telangana and Maharashtra from 2009 to 2014.
A closer examination of these trends (Figure 2) in the
ICRISAT VLS study villages shows a decline in both area and
production of pulses, the production dropping more
precipitously than the area. The macro picture at the all­India
level which is based on district­level data shows an increasing
trend. However, the micro picture shows a declining trend.
The reason for this is that in the SAT, rural people are shifting
from food crops to cash crops (decline in area) and frequent
climate events (either drought years or excess water during the
unfavourable periods) are causing the decline in production.
Food security refers to the production of sufficient quantities
of both high­quality protein and dietary energy. Animal
protein (meat, egg, fish, etc.) and plant protein (pulses,
legumes and nuts) are the two main sources of protein in

2. general. Figure 3 illustrates the consumption of protein from
both sources and the distribution of its consumption in different rounds among the sample members. The results
indicated that pulses were the main sources of protein for the individuals in all the rounds, and overall 72% of the
individuals depended only on pulses as their source of protein. The consumption of animal protein was limited.
While only about 7% consumed protein from animal sources, 12% consumed protein from both sources.
Figure 3. Distribution of sources of protein in the diets based on the Individual Dietary Diversity Scores. Source: ICRISAT VLS nutrition surveys.
Establishing the causal relationship between pulse consumption and nutritional status
The study considered body mass index (BMI) as a proxy of nutritional status. Also, only those sample members
present in all the four rounds of survey (N=1070) were considered. The results show that about 65% of the
individuals in the sample tended to have normal BMI, of which only 37% consumed pulses all through the year.
About 4.39% consumed pulses only for a quarter of the year, 15% consumed pulses for three quarters of a year. The
remaining 35% were under­ or over nourished. Thus it can be understood that low consumption of proteins in the
diet can lead to malnutrition. It was also found that individuals who consumed pulses more frequently were
nutritionally more secure than the remaining groups of individuals.
Two logistic regression models were run to establish the relationship between pulse consumption, frequency of
consumption and nutritional status. Model 1’s output revealed a strong and significant positive relation between
pulse consumption and nutritional status. Individuals who consumed pulse in any of the rounds were likely to enjoy
more normal BMI compared to those who did not. Model 2 that established the linkage between frequency of pulse
consumption and nutritional status showed that those who consumed pulses more frequently had a greater tendency
of having a normal BMI compared to those who consumed them less frequently. The frequency of pulses
consumption has a threshold point, after which it has a negative impact on the individual’s BMI status. Therefore, it
can be concluded that pulse consumption has an important role in the individual’s nutritional status but there is a
threshold level of the frequency of consumption and when the level is crossed, it has an inverse impact.
Pulses are important in improving the nutritional status of rural populations in the semi­arid tropics of India. Several
issues need addressing. Among them are technological, environmental and policy measures to increase pulse area,
production and consumption, including addressing price volatility; campaigns underlining diet diversification,
behavioral change and awareness on pulse diets; empowering women with access to new knowledge and
technological interventions, skill enhancement on post­harvest processing and value addition; and involving them
in all stages of the value chain.