Price and Profitability Analysis of Major Pulses in India

The paper examines the reasons for the low growth in pulses production at the all India level in terms of profitability of the farm business and the workings of the price policy. More precisely, it looks into the effectiveness of (price) policy instruments in helping the farmers to get sufficient income to promote investment, technology and productivity. The analysis shows that agricultural price policy which aimed at providing a remunerative and stable price environment to farmers has largely been irrelevant in case of pulses and suggests reviewing the criteria of fixing the MSP for pulses by making it sensitive to prevailing market prices.