Revision summary
The UN marked 2016 to highlight pulses as food and as a farming solution. Dal supplies protein and micronutrients beside cereals. Nodules fix nitrogen and spare fertiliser in rotations. Many pulses suit rainfed land and catch-crop slots. Smallholders gain if seed, price, and storage match the crop’s public value.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD U[IYP 2016] --> N[Protein micronutrients] U --> S[Nitrogen fixation] U --> W[Low water dryland] N --> F[Food security] S --> F W --> F
Conclusion
- Keep the IYP message as more area under pulses on drylands, MSP and procurement that work like wheat, and kitchens that still cook dal.
- Pair cultivation with storage, processing, and research on wilt and drought so the advantages are realised on the field, not only in a UN year.
Pulses earned a UN year because they feed people, feed the soil, and fit water-scarce farms. Cultivation advantages are protein, nitrogen, and resilience; policy has to make those advantages pay the grower.
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Why does India still import pulses if they are so advantageous?
Yield gaps, climate risk, and weaker procurement than wheat and rice keep domestic supply tight in some years.
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