uilding on the success of the International Year of Pulses in 2016, and recognising the potential of pulses to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations General Assembly designated February 10 as the World Pulses Day. This presents a unique opportunity to raise public awareness about pulses and the role of pulses in the transformation to an efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food system.

Pulses are the edible dry seeds of the legume family. They are rich in protein, fibre, iron, zinc and many essential micronutrients. Pulses are a relatively inexpensive source of protein (compared to the animal protein) with a long shelf life.

Pulses as a food have a direct bearing on food security [SDG 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (good health and well-being)]. Daal roti and/or daal chaawal have been serving essential daily energy and protein needs of millions of people. The vegetarian population across the globe rely heavily on pulses as a source of protein.

Pulses are also important for regenerative/ sustainable agriculture because of bacterial symbiosis to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. They have a low carbon footprint and low water requirements. Pulses contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing dependence on the synthetic nitrogen fertiliser (SDG # 13).

Due to rising prices of pulses, the per capita consumption of pulses in Pakistan has declined from about 15 kg per person per year to about 7 kg per person per year, as reported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation. That could mean a further decline in our nutritional status and our ability to fight hunger.

Pakistan spends about $1 billion on the import of pulses. Combined with soybean, another legume, the cost is more than the earning through export of cereals (rice and maize). We import chickpeas, lentils, mashbeans. Chickpeas (both black and Kabuli) are imported from Australia, Tanzania, Russia, Canada, Argentina, Turkey, Sudan, Ethiopia, Ukraine and Myanamar. Lentils are imported from Canada, Russia and Australia.

Chickpea (chana) and lentils (masoor) are the Rabi season pulses while mung-bean and mash-bean are Khareef season crops. These are mostly cultivated in rain-fed lands with very low input and management. The area under their cultivation is stagnant, rather decreasing. New pulse crops like faba bean, broad beans and lupins could be introduced to diversify the cropping and dietary patterns. Fresh legumes like long beans, snap beans and cowpeas are suitable for Kharif season.

Mung-bean is the only pulses crop in which Pakistan has achieved self-sufficiency. The credit goes to the many years of hard work at Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, in collaboration with Asian Vegetables Research and Development Centre, Taiwan, now named World Vegetables Centre.

Chickpeas, the major item, are cultivated on an area of 0.9 - 1m hectares, largely in the Thal districts (Layya, Bhakar, Khushab, Mianwali) with a low level of nutrients and minimum crop management. Our chickpeas yield remains one of the lowest in the world (0.35 tonnes/H).

New areas should be explored for production of pulses. The political economy of wheat, rice and sugarcane needs to be revisited in the light of cost of importing pulses and the cost of health outcomes due to declining consumption of pulses.

In a good year, the harvest nearly matches domestic requirements. With better water harvesting and communications, the Thal districts are transforming into high value agriculture, thereby replacing the area under chickpeas.

Our chickpeas breeding programmes have been focused on rain-fed varieties of black chickpeas (kala chana) with deep root system and resistance to the airborne fungal disease called blight. The rain-fed varieties are not suited for irrigated agriculture. There is a need to explore new avenues for increasing the area and yield of pulses in general and chickpeas in particular.

One possibility is to develop and introduce irrigation-responsive chickpeas to fit in the Rabi cropping system. The Thal cultivation of chickpeas has no Kabuli chana. This necessitated import. The only possibility of growing Kabuli chana is in the irrigated belts.

The Chickpea Biotechnology Lab at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, initiated a programme in 2016 for irrigation-responsive chickpeas. We have been collaborating with Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Climate Resilient Chickpea at the University of California-Davis, US.

The potential of our technology of irrigated chickpea is 2.5 tonnes/hac, which is 5-7 times higher than current chickpeas yields in the Thal districts. The irrigation responsive chickpeas have a shallow root system compared to the rain-fed chickpeas. They develop faster with a better canopy, allowing longer grain filling and maturation duration. The irrigated chickpeas include both varieties, i.e., black chana and Kabuli chana.

The key limitation in the introduction of irrigated chickpeas would be its competition with other Rabi crops, i.e., wheat and canola. Canola has replaced significant acreage under wheat for economic reasons. The chickpeas economics is going to be more attractive than both canola and wheat. Hence, a major policy shift is required to allow for such replacements by improving the productivity of wheat to spare land for more canola and irrigated chickpeas.

Intercropping pulses with the cereals is a possibility. The lentils and chickpeas intercropping with sugarcane makes a good combination with September plantation of sugarcane.

Area under mash-bean and lentil cultivation has faced a sharp decline, resulting in the import of >70 percent of the domestic needs. It is important to arrest the decline in the acreage of lentils. The causes of decline are a lack of herbicide resistant varieties, machinery and competition with wheat.

Traditionally, Dera Ismail Khan, Chakwal, Sialkot and Narowal districts used to produce lentils. The Narowal district is reported to be the lowest wheat yielder, i.e., 2.3 tonnes/H. This makes a good case for zoning of crops and offers an incentive for the revival of lentils in Narowal by replacing wheat.

The government policy impacts the production, trade and consumption of pulses. New areas should be explored for production of pulses. The political economy of wheat, rice and sugarcane needs to be revisited in the light of cost of importing pulses and the cost of health outcomes due to declining consumption of pulses.

The writer is the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad