Cabinet Secretariat flags delay in pulse research scheme, Agri Ministry says ‘expediting’ it

Why in the News

One year into the six-year Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, not a single research project has been approved against its Rs 500 crore research allocation. The Cabinet Secretariat has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare to complete approvals by November 15. The ministry says it is “expediting” the process and will sanction recommended projects by the end of October.

What is the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses?

1. What it is: A mission running from 2025-26 to 2030-31 to make India self-reliant in pulses. It is like a household plan to grow its own dal instead of buying it from outside.
2. Why it was launched: India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses. It still grows less than it eats each year, so imports fill the gap.
3. Launch and outlay: The mission was announced in the Union Budget and carries an outlay of Rs 11,440 crore. The Union Cabinet approved it and the Prime Minister launched it in October 2025.
4. Five focus areas: As outlined in the Budget speech, the mission emphasises five points:
   • development and commercial availability of climate-resilient seeds;
   • enhancing protein content;
   • increasing productivity;
   • improving post-harvest storage and management;
   • assuring remunerative prices to farmers.
5. The takeaway: Better seed is the mission’s first tool, and new seed comes from research, so a stalled research component holds back the whole mission.

What has the Cabinet Secretariat flagged?

1. Review meeting: On October 5, the Cabinet Secretary chaired a review of how agricultural research in oilseeds, pulses and cotton is being redirected.
2. Unsanctioned proposals: Cabinet Secretariat officials noted that the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare had not yet sanctioned any project under the mission’s research component.
3. Uneven progress: The mission’s other components have taken off. Its research projects have not begun.

Where do the 419 research proposals stand?

1. Proposals received: The ministry first set priority areas for research. It then invited proposals from institutions nationwide and received 419.
2. Who applied: Institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the national farm research body, sent 125 proposals. State agricultural universities sent 249.
3. Two-stage appraisal: A screening committee shortlisted proposals that matched priority research needs. Researchers now present them to a National-level Research and Development Committee of officials, ICAR scientists and experts.
4. Appraisal criteria: The committee tests scientific merit, field application, benefits to farmers and duplication with existing research.

Is first-year progress enough when research lags?

1. Production target: The mission aims to lift pulse output to 350 lakh tonnes by its final year, about 45% above the base level.
2. Area and yield targets: Area under pulses is to reach 310 lakh hectares and average yield 1,130 kg per hectare.
3. Ministry’s claim of progress: The Third Advance Estimates, the ministry’s third provisional crop count, show first-year production up 6.7% and area and yield each up 3.3%.
4. Why research still matters: Average yield must rise by about 28% over the mission period. That needs new climate-resilient varieties, and each month of delay cuts the time left to reach farmers.

Challenges

1. Long breeding cycles: A new variety takes several years to develop, test and multiply into seed, so a late start leaves little time.
2. Import dependence: Domestic shortfalls are met through imports. Eg. Tur and urad bought from Mozambique and Myanmar.
3. Rainfed cultivation: Most pulses grow on rainfed land, so output swings with the monsoon whatever the seed.
4. Approval bottlenecks: Appraisal by several committees in turn slows sanction, as a full year without one approved project shows.

Way Forward

1. Sanction on time: The Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare should sanction shortlisted projects and release their funds within the deadline.
2. Rice fallow varieties: Prioritise short duration, climate-resilient varieties for rice fallows, land left idle after the rice harvest, where the mission seeks new area.
3. Milestone linked funding: Tie each project’s funding to field trial milestones that ICAR reports at every review.

Conclusion

The mission’s early output gains rest on weather and existing seed, not yet on the research meant to sustain them. Whether sanctioned projects deliver new varieties within the remaining five years will decide if the yield target is within reach.

Key numbers

1. Base level (2023-24): 242 lakh tonnes; 275 lakh hectares; 881 kg per hectare.
2. Production, first year: 256.8 lakh tonnes (2024-25) to 274.1 lakh tonnes (2025-26, Third Advance Estimates).
3. Area and yield, first year: 277.2 to 286.5 lakh hectares; 926 to 957 kg per hectare (2024-25 to 2025-26).

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2021] In the context of India’s preparation for Climate-Smart Agriculture, consider the following statements: 1.The ‘Climate-Smart Village’ approach in India is a part of a project led by the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), an international research program. 2.The project of CCAFS is carried out under the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), headquartered in France. 3.The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India is one of the CGIAR’s research centers. Which of the statements given above are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3 ANSWER: (d)”