Summary
The Cabinet Secretariat has flagged that no research project has been sanctioned against the ₹500 crore research allocation of the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, a year into the six-year mission. At a review chaired by Cabinet Secretary T.V.
Somanathan on 5 October 2026, the Agriculture Ministry was asked to complete approvals by 15 November. The Ministry says it is expediting the process, has received 419 proposals and expects to sanction eligible projects by the end of October.
The ₹11,440 crore mission targets 350 lakh tonnes of pulses by 2030-31, with yields rising to 1,130 kg per hectare. Production reached 274.1 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 by the Third Advance Estimates.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR UPSC & STATE PCS
The Cabinet Secretariat flagged a year-long delay in sanctioning research projects under the pulses self-reliance mission and set a 15 November 2026 deadline; the Agriculture Ministry told The Indian Express on 18 October that sanctions would come by the end of October.
Standard News
The Last 53 Lakh Tonnes Can Only Come From a Better Seed
The mission's headline number looks within reach. Pulses output rose to 274.1 lakh tonnes in 2025-26, up 6.7% in a year, against a 2030-31 target of 350 lakh tonnes. Hidden in that number is the reason the research delay matters more than any other.
The arithmetic of the target Production is area times yield.
The mission plans to expand area to 310 lakh hectares from 286.5. At today's yield of 957 kg per hectare, that extra land would lift output to only about 297 lakh tonnes. The remaining roughly 53 lakh tonnes can come from just one source: raising yield to 1,130 kg per hectare.
That is the job of the mission's ₹500 crore research component - climate-resilient, higher-yield, higher-protein seed. A year in, not one project has been sanctioned. The Cabinet Secretariat flagged the delay at a review on 5 October and set a deadline of 15 November.
The Agriculture Ministry says it has received 419 proposals and expects to sanction eligible projects by the end of October.
Who carries the cost of a slow seed Pulses are grown largely on rainfed land by small and marginal farmers, where a weak monsoon or a pest attack can wipe out a season.
The mission's other levers reach them in different ways:
- Procurement
- the commitment to buy all tur, urad and masoor at MSP through NAFED and NCCF - protects price.
- Seed kits and processing units help at the margins.
- Neither raises what a hectare actually produces. Without new varieties, a farmer can be paid a fair price for a crop that still yields too little to compete with the wheat or paddy next door. That is why the mission's slowest part is its most important. Consumers have a stake too. Pulses provide roughly a fifth to a quarter of protein in Indian diets. India imported a record 73.4 lakh tonnes in 2024-25. Imports fell in 2025-26 as output rose, but any shortfall returns India to buyers in Canada, Russia, Brazil, Myanmar and Africa and to their prices.
This has happened before Around 2016-18, the National Food Security Mission-Pulses and a buffer stock of up to 20 lakh tonnes pushed output past 250 lakh tonnes and brought India close to self-sufficiency. The gain faded as yields stagnated and demand grew and imports climbed again by 2023-24. Expansion without a yield breakthrough proved temporary. Parliamentary committees have repeatedly noted slow use of agricultural research funds. The Cabinet Secretariat's intervention is useful, but deadlines alone do not produce varieties.
Quick Facts
Key numbers & takeaways — revise these first
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The Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses runs from 2025-26 to 2030-31 with an outlay of ₹11,440 crore.
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₹500 crore of the outlay is earmarked for research projects.
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The mission was announced in the Budget on 1 February 2025, approved by the Cabinet on 1 October 2025 and launched by the Prime Minister on 11 October 2025.
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Targets for 2030-31: production of 350 lakh tonnes, area of 310 lakh hectares and yield of 1,130 kg per hectare.
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Third Advance Estimates 2025-26: production 274.1 lakh tonnes, area 286.5 lakh hectares, yield 957 kg per hectare.
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The mission commits 100% procurement of tur, urad and masoor at MSP through NAFED and NCCF.
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India imported a record 73.4 lakh tonnes of pulses in 2024-25.
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India is the world's largest producer and consumer of pulses.
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Pulses supply about 20-25% of protein intake in Indian diets.
Connect the dots for your UPSC preparation.
Standard news covers the event. Log in to read our comprehensive analysis and uncover the hidden constitutional, structural, and ethical dimensions of this topic:
The full area-versus-yield arithmetic showing why roughly 53 lakh tonnes of the 2030-31 target depends entirely on research.
How procurement, seed kits and processing units reach a rainfed tur or urad farmer differently and why none of them fixes yield.
What the NFSM-Pulses experience of 2016-18 reveals about why near self-sufficiency did not last.
A concrete design for outcome-tracked research funding, with milestones from proposal to farmer's field.
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