Cheap Yellow Pea Imports Undercut Indian Lentil Farmers Despite Government's Vocal for Local Push

India's pulse sector confronts an existential crisis as duty-free yellow pea imports, permitted since December 2023, have fundamentally destabilised domestic markets. The government's decision to remove the 50% basic customs duty initially until March 2024, subsequently extended six times until March 2026, enabled a record 2.95 million tonnes of yellow peas to flood Indian markets in 2024 alone. Total pulse imports reached an unprecedented 6.88 million tonnes worth $5.5 billion during 2024-25, with Canada and Russia serving as primary suppliers.

The market distortion has been severe. Imported yellow peas landed at Rs. 40-50 per kilogramme, substantially below the Minimum Support Price range of Rs. 56-85 per kilogramme for domestic pulses. Average mandi prices for chana, tur, urad, masoor, and moong traded persistently below their respective MSPs, effectively nullifying government price guarantees. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself raised red flags in August 2025, writing to the Food Ministry expressing concern that unrestricted imports were distorting domestic prices.

"Last year I grew chana and tur thinking prices would recover, but once yellow peas started coming in cheaply, traders stopped calling us," says Ramesh Patel,a pulse farmer from Sehore district. "Our cost of cultivation hasn't gone down, diesel, fertiliser, labour are all expensive, but the market rate has crashed. Imported peas are cheaper, so our dal just sits in storage."

International Tariff Wars Reshape Trade Flows

Global trade tensions have intensified pressure on Indian farmers. China's March 2025 imposition of a 100% tariff on Canadian yellow peas, retaliation for Canadian duties on Chinese electric vehicles, steel, and aluminium, redirected massive export volumes towards India. With India and China collectively accounting for 71% of global pea exports from major producing regions, Canadian suppliers urgently sought alternative markets whilst Russian exporters, facing EU sanctions, simultaneously intensified their India focus.

This geopolitical realignment created perfect conditions for market disruption. Saskatchewan alone exported $480 million worth of peas to India in 2024, whilst overall US pulse exports to India exceeded $80 million. However, India's late-October 2025 announcement of a 30% import duty, comprising 10% basic duty and 20% Agricultural Infrastructure Development Cess, effective November 1, 2025, triggered immediate diplomatic tensions. Republican Senators Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Steve Daines of Montana wrote to President Donald Trump on 16 January 2026, urging him to seek "favourable pulse crop provisions" in trade negotiations with India, terming the tariffs "unfair" to American producers.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Senator Daines shortly thereafter, though broader strategic discussions overshadowed specific pulse trade concerns as India-US trade talks remained stalled over multiple issues including New Delhi's Russian oil purchases.

Farming Communities Face Economic Devastation

The financial toll on pulse-growing regions, particularly Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana, has been catastrophic. Chickpea cultivation area contracted from 11.2 million hectares in 2022-23 to 9.9 million hectares in 2024-25, with farmers abandoning pulses for more remunerative crops. The Kisan Mahapanchayat filed a Supreme Court petition in September 2025, pleading for import curbs as farmers' livelihoods collapsed under the weight of cheap substitutes.

"For small farmers like us, one bad price season pushes us into debt," says Savitri Pawar, who cultivates lentils on four acres in Marathwada. "Yellow peas are being sold as a substitute for Indian dals, but nobody is protecting our crops. If this continues, farmers will stop growing pulses altogether and that will hurt food security in the long run."

The supply chain impact extends beyond farmgate economics. "At the wholesale level, yellow peas are much cheaper than Indian chana right now," says Anil Gupta, who runs a 40-year-old mithai shop in Govindpuri. "From a business point of view, lower input costs help us survive. Besan ladoos are cheaper now for us to make thus, but I also know this price difference is because imports are flooding the market. Traditional sweet-making has always relied on Indian produce, when farmers suffer, the whole food chain is affected."

Self-Sufficiency Rhetoric Contradicts Import Reality

The policy contradiction exposes uncomfortable truths about agricultural priorities. Whilst the government promotes ‘vocal for local’ and the government launched a six-year Pulses Mission in February 2025 targeting self-sufficiency by 2029, the duty-free import policy directly undermined domestic production during its most critical phase. Yellow peas, primarily used as cattle feed internationally, became cheap substitutes for traditional Indian pulses like arhar, chana, and moong.

"Yellow pea imports may temporarily control prices, but they distort domestic pulse markets," explains Dr. Saroj Swain, an agricultural scientist and ex CIFA head. "Indian pulses are adapted to local agro-climatic conditions and support soil health through nitrogen fixation. Undercutting them with cheap imports discourages cultivation, making India more dependent on external markets over time."

The government's belated Rs. 15,095.83-crore procurement plan for Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh under the Price Support Scheme cannot reverse damage already inflicted. Industry analysts warn that without sustained tariff protection ensuring import landing costs exceed MSP levels, India risks permanent import dependency, transforming the world's largest pulse producer into a structurally vulnerable market exposed to global supply shocks and price volatility, whilst simultaneously hollowing out rural livelihoods across its pulse belt.