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