India is on track to become the world’s largest producer of lentil (masoor) in the 2023-24 crop year owing to a surge in its production projected to be around 1.6 million tonnes, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said here on Friday.
Speaking at an event held ahead of India’s hosting of the Global Pulse Conference (GPC) in February, Singh said the government is aiming to make India self-sufficient in pulses by December 2027 but the country will have to depend on imports for a while.
“Our lentil production this year, we believe, would be the highest in the world,” he said. “In chana (chickpea), we produce more than we consume but in the case of urad, tur and moong, we produce less and consume more. We also need to keep an eye on the global production trends to fill the gaps,” he added.
If the projections come true, India’s lentil production in 2023-24 would be the highest since 2017-18, when the domestic output was around 1.62 million tonnes. The agricultural crop year in India is from July to June.
Officials said a sharp increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) from Rs 5,100 per quintal in 2020-21 to almost Rs 6,425 per quintal in 2024-25 (marketing year), a rise of almost 26 per cent, was one of the prime reasons for the renewed interest of farmers towards lentil. The market price of lentils at present is around Rs 6,100-6,125 per quintal which is below the MSP. Only a few months ago, the market rate was around Rs 7,500-8,000 per quintal, which might have also prompted farmers to cultivate more.
Lentil was planted in about 1.94 million hectares till January 12, which was 6.01 per cent more than the same period last year. Trade sources said lentil production in Canada was initially projected at around 1.67 million tonnes which is more than India’s estimated output but was later scaled down by almost 30 per cent, pushing India to the forefront.
Lentil production in Australia, another major global market player, is projected at around 1.4 million tonnes in 2023-24.
Lentil has emerged as an important pulse crop for India in the wake of the recent diplomatic row with Canada where it is grown mainly. India is a big importer of the crop. India, Australia and Canada are the top three lentil producers in the world. With domestic production expected to rise this year, imports might slightly decrease.
Earlier this month, Cooperation and Home Minister Amit Shah said the government was committed to making India self-sufficient in pulses by December 2027 and will ensure that not a single kilogram of pulses is imported into the country from January 2028.
“We are on the path to self-sufficiency and as the Home Minister has said if a farmer grows pulses he will have a full fertiliser factory in his field due to inherent benefits of the crop and we firmly believe in the same,” Managing Director of Nafed Ritesh Chauhan who was also present in the programme said.