Pulses For Nutrition In India Changing Patterns From Farm To Fork Synopsis

India, a country with high concentrations of poor and malnourished people, long promoted a cereal-centric diet composed of subsidized staple commodities such as rice and wheat to feed its population of more than a billion. Today, however, dietary patterns are changing. Policy makers, researchers, and health activists are looking for ways to fight hunger and malnutrition in the country. As they shift their focus from calorie intake to nutrition, neglected foods such as pulses (the dried, edible seeds of legumes) are gaining attention. Pulses for Nutrition in India: Changing Patterns from Farm to Fork explores the numerous benefits of a diet that incorporates pulses. Pulses, including pigeonpeas, lentils, and chickpeas, are less expensive than meat and are excellent sources of protein. In India, people consume pulses and other legumes for protein intake. Pulses also benefit the ecosystem. Among protein-rich foods, pulses have the lowest carbon and water footprints. Pulses also improve soil health by naturally balancing atmospheric nitrogen in the soil; thus, growing pulses reduces the need for nitrogenous fertilizer. Pulses for Nutrition in India: Changing Patterns from Farm to Fork looks at the country’s pulses sector in light of agricultural systems, climate change, irrigation design, and how policies (including the Green Revolution) have evolved over time. To understand how pulses can help fulfill the objectives of India’s food policies, experts explore the role that pulse production plays in global trade; the changing demand for pulses in India since the 1960s; the possibility of improving pulse yields with better technology to compete with cereals; and the long-term health benefits of greater reliance on pulses. The analyses in Pulses for Nutrition in India: Changing Patterns from Farm to Fork contribute to the emerging literature on pulses and will aid policy makers in finding ways to feed and nourish a growing population.

What will it take for India, with a burgeoning population of well over a billion, to meet its food needs in the coming years? If the country is to speed progress in reducing hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity, it must first revisit its food policy framework and level the playing field for nongrain crops. In Pulses for Nutrition in India: Changing Patterns from Farm to Fork, leading researchers consider the role that pulses can play in improving food security and nutrition as well as the changes necessary in production practices to accomplish these goals.

The paper attempts to fill a knowledge gap by examining India’s pulse complex, consisting of production, consumption, and trade policies. India’s pulse policies are anchored in a cereal-centric farming system and prioritize national self-sufficiency as well as the mitigation of relative price increases in food. On the farmer side, government policy includes price support (a minimum support price [MSP]) for different pulses initially without procurement, but later backed by public procurement. The MSP plus procurement elicited a comparatively high supply response. Without procurement, the MSP worked only to anchor prices and benefit traders at the farmers’ expense. By not accounting for the needed risk premium (for a supply response) the MSP kept domestic production low. Even as the world’s largest importer of pulses, the scale of pulse imports in India have generally not been large enough to cool its markets and bring down domestic prices. Instantaneous supply adjustments by exporters in response to trade policy changes are difficult.

Advances in Legume-based Agroecoystem for Sustainable Intensification explores current research and future strategies for ensuring capacity growth and socioeconomic improvement through the utilization of legume crop cultivation and production in the achievement of sustainability development goals (SDGs). Sections cover the role of legumes in addressing issues of food security, improving nitrogen in the environment, environmental sustainability, economic-environmentally optimized systems, the importance and impact of nitrogen, organic production, and biomass potential, legume production, biology, breeding improvement, cropping systems, and the use of legumes for eco-friendly weed management. This book is an important resource for scientists, researchers and advanced students interested in championing the effective utilization of legumes for agronomic and ecological benefit. Focuses on opportunities for agricultural impact and sustainability Presents insights into both agricultural sustainability and eco-intensification Includes the impact of legume production on societal impacts such as health and wealth management

“This book provides new insights into the important and developing agricultural value chains, including on current constraints and the enormity of opportunities, emanating in the dynamic GMS, especially through to their main giant market of China. Analysis in the GMS countries forms comparable case studies of major crops using mappings of their key processes and actors, as well as both qualitative and quantitative data, including primary data collection such as from new surveys. The analysis uses understandable methodologies, such as graphical cross-country comparisons, and established ratios, such as on comparative advantage, to provide useful insights into GMS agricultural value chains. A particular focus in the case studies is better understanding of the role Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) might play in constraining agricultural exports to China and approaches to addressing these that are more inclusive and economically rewarding. I recommend this valuable book to those interested in agricultural trade in GMS countries and China, as well as the characteristics of their agricultural value chains, and their contribution to these countries’ development.” -- Dr Ray Trewin, Former Fellow, ANU and editor of Crucial Agricultural Policy (World Scientific, 2016). “The Greater Mekong Subregion encompasses several open, dynamic, latecomer economies. Over the past thirty years, they have benefited immensely from the restoration of peace, their re-engagement with the regional and global economies, and the rise of China. The region as a whole is a net food exporter with a strong comparative advantage in agriculture. How they manage their international commercial relations, with China in particular, will significantly influence their future socio-economic dynamics. The authors and contributors, all leading researchers in the field, are to be congratulated for this timely and authoritative volume that comprehensively examines the issues and charts a productive way forward. A must-read for anybody interested in these important issues and countries.” -- Professor Hal Hill, H.W. Arndt Professor Emeritus of the Southeast Asian Economies, ANU

Agri-food exports are important for Myanmar’s economic takeoff, in particular for the transformation of agri-food systems. This paper analyzes the past performance of key agri-food exports and assess their role and future potential to contribute to the transformation of Myanmar’s agri-food system and the overall economy.

This open access book examines the interactions between India’s economic development, agricultural production, and nutrition through the lens of a “Food Systems Approach (FSA).” The Indian growth story is a paradoxical one. Despite economic progress over the past two decades, regional inequality, food insecurity and malnutrition problems persist. Simultaneously, recent trends in obesity along with micro-nutrient deficiency portend to a future public health crisis. This book explores various challenges and opportunities to achieve a nutrition-secure future through diversified production systems, improved health and hygiene environment and greater individual capability to access a balanced diet contributing to an increase in overall productivity. The authors bring together the latest data and scientific evidence from the country to map out the current state of food systems and nutrition outcomes. They place India within the context of other developing country experiences and highlight India’s status as an outlier in terms of the persistence of high levels of stunting while following global trends in obesity. This book discusses the policy and institutional interventions needed for promoting a nutrition-sensitive food system and the multi-sectoral strategies needed for simultaneously addressing the triple burden of malnutrition in India.

The production, trade and consumption of pulses have seen substantial growth over the last fifteen years. This report examines the trends and patterns of this growth, and the factors that explain these for different kinds of pulses. The report presents an analysis of trends of consumption of pulses in different regions of the world and discusses the role that pulses can play in human nutrition. The report presents an analysis of the dynamics of growth of major pulses in different pulse-producing countries of the world. It describes the increasingly important role of trade in the global economy of pulses and presents an analysis of changing patterns of trade. The report argues that there is a pressing need to close the large gap between potential and actual yields, particularly on smallholder farms in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, by increased adoption of improved varieties and modern agronomic practices in all developing countries. This in turn requires a major thrust in agricultural research and extension, improving credit availability, and public investment directed at pulse production. The report discusses future prospects and policy imperatives for sustaining the growth of pulse production.