Pulses strategy for sustainable
food and nutritional security in
SAARC region
Mohan C. Saxena
Outline
• Importance of pulses
• Availability of pulses in SAARC region & its
nutritional implications
• Challenges facing pulses production
• Strategy for increasing pulses production
– Enhancing productivity with current area &
technology
– Bringing new area under pulses
– Science & technology for sustainable productivity
increases in the years to come
• Role of regional cooperation & concluding remarks
Role of food legumes in human diet Use in Africa impacting use in SA
A Bangladeshi mother is
feeding rice and lentil dal to her
children
Role of food legumes in human diet Use in South Asia
Use diversity
Role of food legumes in human diet
Nutritional contribution of pulses in the developing world
(2005-07)
Average Maximum
Calorie intake 3.0% >10% in some SSA countries
Protein intake 7.5% >50% in some Asian, SSA & LA
countries
“Poor man’s meat”
Complementary protein nutrition
• Pulses’ protein rich in lysine but
deficient in S-containing amino acids
• Cereals’ protein deficient in lysine but
rich in other AA
• Over all nutritional efficiency of cereal
rich diet thus enhanced when mixed in
the ratio of 1 part of pulses to 8 parts of
cereals
• Meat replacement, lower C & H20
footprint
Other nutritional benefits of pulses
• Rich in mineral nutrients (Mg, K, P, Zn, Fe)
• Rich in dietary fiber
• Rich in bioactive compounds that reduce
risk of chronic diseases
• Positive effect on prevention of non-
communicable diseases such as obesity,
diabetes, coronary conditions and cancer
“Pulses are future of food”
Multiple uses of pulse crops in different
production systems and gender dimension
• Seeds consumed as
green or dry grains;
also leaves sometimes
used as vegetable.
• In many systems,
considered as women’s
crops, providing
important source of
income & family’s
nutritional needs.
Food legume byproducts as animal feed Important in integrated farming system
Role in cereal-based cropping systems
BNF and Nutrient recycling
• BNF yield: 40 to 160
kg N per ha
• Residual effect on
following cereals
equivalent to 40 to 80
kg directly applied N
Pulses key for sustainable
development
• Reducing poverty & hunger
• Improving health & nutrition
• Enhancing ecosystem resilience & CC mitigation
Major pulses in different SA
countries
• Afghanistan: MB, Rajmash, Chickpea
• Bangladesh: Lentil, MB, Chp, UB, Khe, Cowp
• Bhutan: MB, Rajmash, UB
• India: Chp, PP, Lentil, UB, MB, Cowp, Moth,
Dolichos, fieldpea, Rajmash
• Pakistan: Chp,Lentil, MB, UB, Moth
• Sri Lanka: MB, Cowp, UB
Pulses production in SA region
• Area: 32.63 m ha (38% of global)
• Production: 21.68 m mt (28% of global)
• Yield: 664 kg/ha (906 kg/ha global av.)
• SAARC countries standing in area &
production: Maldives < Bhutan < Sri
Lanka < Afghanistan < Bangladesh <
Nepal < Pakistan < India
• Region - largest producer in the World
Production vs. demand & per capita
availability of pulses in SA region
• Domestic production lagging behind the
demand because of population growth
• Per capita availability falling well below the
WHO recommended consumption level with
serious nutritional consequences
• Regional deficit being partially made up by
imports from outside the region
• Some intra-regional trade helpful in meeting
local deficit
• Major cause of deficit is low yield
Pulses strategy for sustainable food
and nutritional security in SA region
• SA region largest consumer of pulses
in the world
• Growing demand can not be met by
imports, also because of specialty of
types of pulses needed
• Therefore, sustainable increase in
domestic production within the region
is the only course
Pulses strategy for sustainable food
and nutritional security in SA region
• How to increase production in the short
run?
– Increase the productivity by identifying
and bridging the current yield gap
– Increase the area under pulse crops
through diversification and intensification
of dominant cropping systems and
identifying new niches for growing pulses
Pulses strategy for sustainable food
and nutritional security in SA region
• How to increase production in
sustainable manner in the long run?
– All those steps needed to be taken for the
short run
– Improving intrinsic yield potential and
developing management practices to
harness fully that potential
Marginalization of pulses
Vicious cycle of ever decreasing productivity?
Low yield Low economic
competitiveness
Relegation to less
endowed areas
Further reduction
in productivity
Further lowering of
economic
competitiveness
Relegation to
marginal areas Lower yield
The challenge
Enhancing economic competitiveness of pulses
How to enhance economic competitiveness of pulses in the short run?
Maximizing realization of yield potential and bridging the yield gap on farmers’ fields
Enhancing end-use quality, diversifying use and value addition
Reducing cost of production
Policy and institutional support for fair prices to farmers and crop insurance
Yield gaps identified on farmers’ fields (FF)
through frontline demonstrations (FLD ) in India
(2008-9) Yield (kg/ha)
Crop FLD FF Gap
Pigeonpea 1475 1185 290
Moong 727 594 133
Urd 853 725 128
Lentil 1126 919 207
Chickpea 1459 1241 218
Field pea 1203 963 240
Lathyrus 884 673 211
Bridging the yield gap
• Identify magnitude of yield gap in
different agro-ecological regions
• Identify causes of the gap
• Identify solutions
• Arrange implementation of these
solutions
Role of socio-economists crucial
Enhancing adaptation to niches in diverse cropping systems
Identify & characterize
more competitive niches
Match crop phenology
with the prevailing
macro- and micro-
climatic conditions
Select genotypes in situ
for various cropping
systems/niches
New niches for pulses • ‘Rice fallows’ in Bengal: Lentil, Lathyrus,
Moong
• ‘Catch’ crops in ‘Rice-Wheat’, ‘Maize-Wheat’,
‘Rice-Rice, ‘Fallow-Wheat’
• Intercropping: In Sugarcane, Pigeonpea,
Cotton, Castor, Coconut grooves
• Replacement of some well endowed areas
under wheat and rice by pulses in the
countries which have excessive production
of these cereals
Improving intrinsic yield potential
Major efforts in crop physiology and biochemistry to analyze limitations and design more efficient plant types for various niches
Lessons from better yielding legumes
Multi-disciplinary approach involving plant physiology and biochemistry, breeding, molecular biology and microbiology
Attention to both macro- and micro-symbiont
Reducing cost of production
Developing energy-saving equipment
Minimizing field operations, e.g., single pass planter
Mechanizing harvest
Enhancing end-use quality and
use-diversification
Improving nutritional
quality
Enriching essential
micronutrient and
aminoacid content
Reducing anti-
nutritional factors
Improving functional
properties for various
end-use products
Developing new high-
value products
Maximizing realization of yield potential
Appropriate agronomic management Cropping sequence;
conservation agriculture
Sowing date, density, etc.
Management of nutrients and moisture
Biological nitrogen fixation; mycorrhizal association
Reducing yield loss due to: Abiotic stresses
Biotic stresses
Managing abiotic stresses
Abiotic stresses
Drought
Temperature extremes
Salinity
Nutrient deficiency
Nutrient toxicity
Best managed through genetic manipulation
Biotic stresses
Fungal, bacterial, viral and nematode pathogens
Insect pests
Weeds including parasitic plants
Managing biotic stresses
New pests & pathogens; severity and spectrum of damage likely to change with global climatic change
Best managed by IPM approach, using:
host-plant resistance
agronomic management
soft/botanical pesticides, and
biological control
Progress in research
Collection and characterization of germplasm
Reliable screening techniques for both biotic and abiotic stresses
Introgression of genes from wild relatives
Improved breeding methods (including exploitation of hybrid vigor) and biometrical tools
Increasing use of molecular biology and biotechnolgy in crop improvement.
New opportunities
Advances in genomics and gene management
Applied genomics:
Mapping populations for QTL analysis, linkage maps
More maarkers becoming available for specific traits, marker-assisted breeding
Genome mapping:
Sequences becoming available for peas,chickpea, lentil, pigeon pea and model legume Medicago truncatula
Syntany being harnessed to devise new markers for species based on co-linearity of related species.
Gene manipulation:
Isolation and study function of important genes, also from alien species.
DNA chips for genome-wide high throughput expression screening of stress-responsive genes
Gene transfer for GM products
Meeting future challenges for sustained research and effective technology transfer & making
pulses a profitable crop to farmers
Ensure sustained public-sector funding
Encourage private sector investment and partnership
with public sector particularly for propriety
technologies
Target research for both commercial and subsistence
farmers adopting specific methodologies
Develop effective information and decision support
systems and technology delivery systems
Ensure policy and institutional support including
linkage to markets and crop insurance to assist
sustained development of pulses production
Regional cooperation
• Promote R&D partnership to harness full
potential of pulses to contribute to
sustainable food and nutritional security
• Identify comparative advantage of different
countries in producing different pulses
• Arrange preferential trade of these pulses
• Identify new crops and substitutes of
traditionally used pulses to meet shortages
Thank you