Dynamics of lentil (Lens culinaris) production and trade: Global scenario and Indian interdependence

Abstract

Increasing pulse production is one of the national priorities for food and nutritional security of India. In this context, incremental changes in pulse production can play a pivotal role. During 2003–2022, for example, the area under lentil (Lens culinaris L.) registered a decline (2.08%), however; productivity improvement (41.26%) led to the enhancement in its production (by 37%) in the country. This study portrays the temporal trend and patterns of lentil production growth during the period 2003–2022. A substantial growth in imports of lentil from 63.97 thousand tonnes in Triennium estimate (TE) 2003 to 814.20 thousand tonnes in TE 2022 was registered in India. Moreover, the share of lentil imports to total lentil production increased from 6.94% in TE 2002 to 63.24% in TE 2022. Lentil imports exhibited a high annual growth rate (15.83%) and high instability during the overall study period (2003–2022), which was higher than the annual growth rate of imports of overall pulses during the same period. Approximately 0.65 million tonnes of lentils were imported in the year 2022, to meet domestic consumption demands. Canada and Australia accounted for 61% and 36% of the total lentil imports to India in year 2022, while Bangladesh (49.61%) followed by UAE (21.74%) and Nepal (18.33%) were the major export destinations of the total lentil export (2022). The gap between production and consumption, coupled with the changing trade regulations and consumer preferences, contributed to the observed instability in lentil trade in India over the past two decades. Concerted efforts in intensifying the technology transfer, capacity building and convergence of resources among the stakeholders can impact the productivity of lentils, thereby developing strategies for optimizing its import and export dynamics.