From Plate to Plough, Why Atmanirbharta in Pulses and Oilseeds is India’s Pathway to a Regenerative Future
On October 16, the global community observed World Food Day, marking the 80th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the poignant theme, “Hand In Hand for Better Food and a Better Future.” This theme is a powerful reminder that the challenges of the 21st century—climate change, environmental degradation, and nutritional insecurity—are too vast for any single entity to tackle alone. They demand a collaborative spirit that bridges nations, businesses, farmers, and scientists. For India, a nation where nearly 46% of the workforce is still engaged in agriculture, this call to action is particularly urgent. The path forward, as eloquently argued by Ashok Gulati and Ritika Juneja, lies in embracing regenerative agriculture, with a strategic pivot towards achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds. This is not merely a matter of economic policy or reducing import bills; it is a holistic national imperative that promises to heal our soils, conserve our water, cleanse our air, and secure the nutritional future of a billion-plus people.
The Burden of Success: From Green Revolution to Brown Fields
India’s journey from a “ship-to-mouth” existence in the 1960s to becoming the world’s largest exporter of rice is a monumental achievement in human history. This transformation, a powerful testament to the synergy of Policies, Products, Practices, and Partnerships (the 4Ps), was powered by technological marvels. The high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of wheat developed by Norman Borlaug at CIMMYT and of rice by Henry Beachell and Gurdev Khush at IRRI ushered in the Green Revolution. This was complemented by the Haber-Bosch process, which revolutionized synthetic fertilizer production, and by supportive government policies like minimum support prices (MSP) and irrigation expansion.
However, the innovations that averted mass starvation have sown the seeds of a new, slow-burning crisis. The legacy of the Green Revolution is a double-edged sword. The relentless focus on rice and wheat, particularly in the breadbasket states of Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, has come at a devastating ecological cost. The excessive and imbalanced use of fertilizers—primarily urea—has degraded soil health to a critical point. India’s average Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) level has plummeted to below 0.3%, far short of the 1% threshold recommended by soil scientists like Rattan Lal and R.S. Panda. Soil organic carbon is the lifeblood of the earth; it improves soil structure, water retention, and nutrient availability. Its depletion turns fertile land into inert, dusty substrate.
This soil distress is compounded by a water crisis. The water-intensive nature of paddy cultivation has led to the rampant over-exploitation of groundwater. Aquifers are being mined faster than they can recharge, pushing the nation towards an irreversible hydrological disaster. Furthermore, the practice of paddy stubble burning, a direct consequence of the rice-wheat monoculture cycle, blankets entire regions in a toxic smog, creating a public health emergency year after year. The very model that saved India is now poisoning its land, water, and air. The imperative is clear: India needs a new agricultural revolution—one that is regenerative by design.
Regenerative Agriculture: The Philosophical and Practical Shift
Regenerative agriculture is not a single practice but a holistic approach to farming that seeks to restore and enhance the entire ecosystem of the farm. It moves beyond the concept of “sustainability” (merely maintaining the status quo) to one of active “regeneration.” Its core principles include:
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Enhancing Soil Health: Prioritizing practices that build soil organic matter and foster a thriving soil microbiome.
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Improving Water Management: Increasing the water-holding capacity of soil and reducing reliance on excessive irrigation.
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Promoting Biodiversity: Integrating a variety of crops and livestock to create resilient agricultural ecosystems.
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Reducing Synthetic Inputs: Minimizing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that harm the environment.
At the heart of this philosophy for India lies a simple yet powerful crop switch: a strategic shift towards pulses (like chickpeas, pigeon peas, and lentils) and oilseeds (like mustard, groundnut, and soyabean).
The Pulse of the Solution: Why Atmanirbharta in Pulses and Oilseeds is Key
The campaign for self-sufficiency, or atmanirbharta, in pulses and oilseeds is often framed in economic terms. India imports over 50% of its edible oil needs, spending a colossal $15-20 billion annually, making it one of the largest import bills after crude oil. Similarly, despite being the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses, domestic production often falls short, leading to inflationary pressures. However, the ecological and health arguments for this shift are even more compelling.
1. Healing the Soil:
Pulses are leguminous crops that possess a unique superpower: biological nitrogen fixation. Through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in their root nodules, they draw nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form usable by plants, enriching the soil naturally. Integrating pulses into crop rotations, especially in place of a paddy cycle, can significantly reduce the need for synthetic urea, cut input costs for farmers, and begin the vital process of rebuilding Soil Organic Carbon. They are natural soil doctors.
2. Conserving Water:
Compared to water-guzzling crops like rice and sugarcane, most pulses and oilseeds are inherently less water-intensive. They are often grown on residual soil moisture or require far fewer irrigations. A large-scale shift towards these crops, particularly in water-stressed regions, would be the single most effective policy for aquifer recharge and sustainable water management.
3. Cleaning the Air:
Replacing the paddy-wheat cycle with a pulse-wheat or oilseed-wheat cycle in the Indo-Gangetic plains would directly address the issue of stubble burning. Pulses and oilseeds do not generate the same voluminous, silica-rich residue that paddy does. Their residue can be more easily managed or incorporated into the soil, eliminating the need for burning and thereby saving the lungs of northern India from annual toxic smog.
4. Ensuring Nutritional Security:
The economic and ecological benefits culminate in a profound human outcome: improved nutritional security. Pulses are a vital source of plant-based protein, fiber, and essential micronutrients. Oilseeds provide healthy fats. Increasing their domestic production and availability can directly combat protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, creating a healthier, more resilient population. This is the true meaning of moving from food security to nutritional security.
The Roadblocks and the Roadmap: From Crop-Biased to Crop-Neutral Incentives
Despite their obvious benefits, the area under pulses and oilseeds has remained stagnant or grown only marginally. The primary reason for this is India’s deeply entrenched, crop-biased policy framework. The government’s procurement system, centered around Minimum Support Price (MSP), is overwhelmingly focused on rice and wheat. This creates a guaranteed market and predictable income for farmers growing these crops, while pulses and oilseeds are left to the vagaries of the market.
To unlock the potential of a regenerative shift, the government must move towards crop-neutral incentives. This does not necessarily mean dismantling the MSP system overnight, but rather creating a level playing field. This could involve:
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Procurement Reforms: Expanding and strengthening MSP procurement operations for pulses and oilseeds to provide farmers with the same price assurance they have for cereals.
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Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT): Shifting subsidies from inputs like power, water, and fertilizers to direct income support. This would allow farmers to make cropping decisions based on agro-ecology and market demand rather than distorted subsidy signals.
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Investment in R&D: The piece rightly points out that flagship initiatives like the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) are yet to deliver substantial breakthroughs in agriculture. There is an urgent need to fund research into high-yielding, climate-resilient varieties of pulses and oilseeds that can compete with the productivity of existing cereal crops.
The Power of Partnership: The Role of the Private Sector and Innovation
While government policy sets the stage, the transformation will be powered by innovation and collaboration, particularly from the private sector. The article cites the example of a seminar on “Innovations for Regenerative Agriculture” and the launch of the Global AgXchange platform. Such initiatives are crucial. They connect innovators with markets and scale up promising practices.
The stories of Steve Jobs in a garage and B.V.R. Subrahmanyam’s transformative role in trade policy are reminders that great change often has humble beginnings. India needs to foster an ecosystem where agricultural entrepreneurs—or “agri-preneurs”—can thrive. This involves supporting startups working on bio-fertilizers, drone-based crop monitoring, water-saving technologies, and digital marketplaces that connect pulse growers directly with consumers.
Conclusion: A Collective Responsibility for a Regenerative Future
The call for atmanirbharta in pulses and oilseeds is a call for a smarter, healthier, and more sustainable form of self-reliance. It is an agenda that aligns perfectly with the World Food Day theme of working hand-in-hand. It requires the government to craft courageous and farsighted policies, the scientific community to deliver transformative products, the farming community to adopt regenerative practices, and the private sector to build innovative partnerships.
Healing India’s agriculture is no longer optional; it is an ecological and economic imperative. By making the farm atmanirbhar in the most ecologically sensible way, we are not just securing our food bowl; we are investing in the restoration of our land, the conservation of our water, the purity of our air, and the health of our people. The plough must now turn a new furrow, one that leads away from the depleted fields of the past and towards a regenerated and secure future.
Q&A Based on the Article
Q1: The article argues that the Green Revolution, while successful, created significant ecological challenges. What are the three main negative consequences of the rice-wheat monoculture system mentioned?
A1: The three main negative consequences are:
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Soil Degradation: Excessive use of urea has led to a severe depletion of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), which is now below 0.3% on average, far from the healthy 1% threshold.
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Water Depletion: The water-intensive nature of paddy cultivation has caused rampant over-exploitation of groundwater, leading to a critical water crisis in key agricultural states.
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Air Pollution: The practice of burning paddy stubble after harvest to quickly prepare fields for wheat creates massive seasonal air pollution, causing a public health emergency in northern India.
Q2: What is “regenerative agriculture,” and how does it differ from simply “sustainable” farming?
A2: Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach that goes beyond sustainability. While sustainable farming aims to maintain the current state of the ecosystem without further degradation, regenerative agriculture actively seeks to restore and enhance the farm’s entire ecosystem. It focuses on improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, building climate resilience, and improving water cycles, thereby leaving the land in a better state than it was found.
Q3: Why are pulses considered a “superpower” crop in the context of regenerative agriculture?
A3: Pulses are considered a superpower because of their ability to perform biological nitrogen fixation. Through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in their root nodules, they draw nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form that plants can use. This naturally enriches the soil, reduces the need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, cuts farmers’ input costs, and helps rebuild vital Soil Organic Carbon.
Q4: What is meant by “crop-biased incentives,” and what shift in policy is recommended to promote pulses and oilseeds?
A4: “Crop-biased incentives” refer to a policy framework, like the current Minimum Support Price (MSP) and procurement system, that overwhelmingly favors certain crops (like rice and wheat) over others. This creates a guaranteed market for cereals but not for pulses and oilseeds. The recommended shift is towards “crop-neutral incentives,” which would create a level playing field. This could be achieved by expanding MSP procurement to pulses and oilseeds and shifting subsidies from inputs to direct income support, allowing farmers to choose crops based on ecology and market demand rather than skewed policy signals.
Q5: Besides government policy, what other actors are identified as crucial for driving this agricultural transformation, and what is an example given of their initiative?
A5: The private sector is identified as a crucial actor. The article highlights that while government initiatives like the Atal Innovation Mission are still evolving, the private sector is already taking proactive steps. An example given is the launch of the “Global AgXchange” platform during a seminar on regenerative agriculture. This platform aims to connect agricultural innovators with global markets, fostering the growth and scaling of transformative ideas and technologies in the sector.
