Top 10 Largest Producer of Pulses in India 2025

India is the largest pulses producer globally, accounting for 27-28% of the world’s total production. Moreover, do you know India imports 14% of pulses globally? Also, pulses account for 7-10% of India’s total foodgrain production. 

In addition to this, Pulses are well suited to grow well in both Rabi and Kharif seasons. However, Rabi crops (harvested from April to June) are widely grown, contributing to 60% of total production.

Currently, Gram is the most dominant crop that accounts for 40% of total pulses. While:

• Tutor Arhar daal accounts for 15-20% of the total production
• Urad and Moong daal at 8-10% each in total production

If we talk about major pulses-producing states in India, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka are the leading ones. Let’s talk about the top 10 largest pulses-producing states with a total production of pulses in India. Besides, we will list the popularly grown pulses and government-introduced initiatives that are a blessing for Indian farmers.

Read: Latest Subsidy Plan on Pulses Crop by Government

Top 10 Largest Producers of Pulses in India

There are various pulse-producing states in India. But here are state-wise pulse production in India from the top 10 states with annual production and pulse variety.

1. Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh is the largest pulses producing state in India. The state’s annual pulse production in India stands at approx. 58.51 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. Gram, Tur, and Urad top the pulses list and are highly cultivated and grown in Madhya Pradesh.

2. Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the second leading producer of pulses in India. The state’s annual production stands at approx. 39.93 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. The state produces the highest quantity of pulses like moong, moth, moong, and gram in the rabi season and arhar in the Kharif season. This shows the state is famous for producing quite a list of pulses.

3. Maharashtra

Maharashtra is the third largest pulses producing state in India. The state’s annual pulses production stands at approx. 38.22 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. Besides, Maharashtra has around 20 lakh hectares of land that cultivates tur pulse in the majority.

4. Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh ranks 4th highest pulses producing state in India. And, the annual production of pulses in India from UP stands at approx. 24.30 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. Gram pulse tops the pulse name list as it has the highest crop area for production.

5. Karnataka

Karnataka is the fifth highest pulse producing state in India. The state’s annual production stood at approx  19.83 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. For instance, the state accounts for 60% growth of chickpea crops and pigeon peas. The state is known to grow a variety of pulses like chickpea, pigeon pea, horse gram, black gram and green gram.

6. Gujarat

Gujarat is the sixth largest pulses producer, with an annual production of approx 14.34 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. Gujrat, however, made an annual production of 1759.93 tons of pulses in 2021 and 1057.300 tonnes in 2020. So, this shows great growth in the production of Gujrat since last year.

7. Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is seventh-largest producer of pulses in India. And, the annual production of pulses in this popular state stood at approx 10.55 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. The state is home to producing various high-protein pulses in India.

8. Jharkhand

Jharkhand’s annual pulse production in India stands at approx 8.38 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. However, the state’s annual production in 2021 stood at 908.93 tonnes. So, this shows a small but valuable growth in the financial year’s production volume across the state

9. Tamil Nadu

It is the largest pulses-producing state in India. Tamil Nadu’s annual production stood at approx 5.37 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. In the last 6 years, it has developed land year under pulses between 3.97 to 7.85 lakh ha per year.

10. Telangana

It is the 10th largest producer of pulses in India, which produced approx 5.34 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23. The state produces enough pulses to enjoy a meal twice a day. Furthermore, the pulse plantation is so huge that a large population of people can get decent income opportunities.

These were the top 10 pulses producing states in India. Now, let’s talk about the government initiatives that support the growth in the cultivation and harvesting of high-quality and yielding pulses.

India is the grower of pulses in huge quantities. Thus, to make it ever-increasing, some government-led initiatives are highly useful. You can read about these initiatives below:

Government Schemes to Support Growing Pules Production

To support the pulses growing states, the Government patronages various schemes that are highly beneficial for Indian farmers.

NFSM-Pulses Programme

The production of pulses  has been steadily increasing in recent years. Furthermore, to keep up with this growth, the government of India has initiated an NFSM-Pulses programme to support the production of different types of pulses in India. The programme is being initiated in around 733 districts across 28 States and the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

Under the NFSM-Pulses programme, the government focus on:

• Distribution of incentives to farmers.
• Distribution of high-yielding varieties of seeds (HYVs).
• And, Production of certified seeds.
• Distribution of efficient farm machinery/tools.
• Distribution of water-saving devices, plant protection chemicals, and soil ameliorants (substances that help improve/grow the physical condition of the soil).
• Training is also given to farmers to improve crop production and yield.
• And, Central seed agencies get assistance to produce certified and latest seed varieties.
• Free of cost, mini kits of various pulses are distributed to farmers.

Production of Pulses in India for the Last 6 Years

So, let’s have a quick view of India’s last 6 years of pulse production from FY 2016 to 2023 to observe any growth curve or downfalls.

Now we know popular pulses producing states in India and government-supported initiatives,  let’s look at the list of pulses grown in India.

Variety of Pulses Cultivated, Grown & Sold in India

Here are a few protein rich pulses in India that farmers grow and commercially trade.

Pulses Name in English	Pulses Name in Hindi
Gahat ki Daal-Horse Gram	कुल्थी दाल
Soybean	सोयाबीन
Red Gram/Pigeon pea	अरहर की दाल/तुअर दाल
Dal Bhat	भट्ट की दाल
Gahat ki Daal-Horse Gram	कुल्थी दाल
Gram/ Bengal Gram/ Chickpeas Split	चना दाल
Gram / Chickpeas whole	काला चना
Lima Beans/Vaal Dal	सेम
Kidney Beans, Beans	राजमा
Green Peas	हरी मटर
Chickpeas	छोला/काबुली चना
Black Gram /Vigna mungo	उड़द
Black Gram Split	उड़द की दाल/ काली दाल
Urad Dal White Lentil /Urad Dal skinned	उड़द की धुली दाल
Black-Eyed Pea/Black eyed Beans/Alubia/Cowpea	लोबिया/ सफ़ेद राजमा
Black Gram /Vigna mungo	उड़द
Green Gram Split	मूंग हरी दाल
Moong yellow Dal/ Skinned Dal	मूंग पीली दाल
Green Gram/Whole Mung Beans/ Turkish gram	मोठ दाल/साबित मूंग
Lentil	मसूर
Red Lentil	मसूर की दाल

This was the overall Indian pulses list, let’s review pulses that Indian states commonly grow.

Major Pulses Grown in India

Following are the following types of pulses grown in India popularly.

• Bengal Gram (Desi Chick Pea / Desi Chana)
• Pigeon Peas (Arhar / Toor / Red Gram)
• Green Beans (Moong Beans)
• Chick Peas (Kabuli Chana)
• Black Matpe (Urad / Mah / Black Gram)
• Red Kidney Beans (Rajma)
• Black Eyed Peas (Lobiya)
• Lentils (Masoor)
• White Peas (Matar) are major pulses grown and consumed in India

Easy Tips to Increase Pulses Cultivation in India

India has great potential to increase pulse production in India and limit our dependency on imports. Furthermore, here are some strategies on how India can move towards sustainable cultivation and production of different pulses in India.

1. To Increase Crop Area

The scope of increasing the area under pulses is huge. Therefore, acting on it and increasing the land area is vital to result in more pulse cultivation opportunities. That's why, we have huge potential to grow and harvest the leading name of pulses in India.

Read: How to increase crop productivity?

2. Optimizing Fertilization Process

More efficient use of fertilization is needed to ensure growth. So, balanced use of fertilisers can positively affect nodulation, growth, yield and overall performance of legume crops. Phosphorus plays an important role in the growth of legumes. Hence, 30 to 80 kg of phosphorus per hectare is beneficial for sowing and growing quality crops.

Check out - Best Fertilisers Implements Worth Buying

3. Development of High Yielding Variety of Seeds

As there is an unusual agro-climatic condition in India, cultivation of pulses is done on a limited scale in the country. Therefore, it is important to grow high-yielding, early maturing, disease and pest-resistant varieties of major pulse crops are quite needful.

4. Mixed Cropping

Intercropping of pulses next to other crops helps to:

• Increase land’s total production capacity 
• And, Increase net income per season
• Provide insurance in case of failure of the main pulse crop

5. Distribution of Good Quality Seeds

Seed-producing agencies and agricultural universities need to work on providing good quality seeds to farmers or smallholders. And there should be a time gap in the timely distribution of seeds. 

Looking for the best seed implements? Look here!

6. Financial Help to Potential Farmers

The government needs to make arrangements to provide enough financial support to Indian farmers. So that they can show more interest in the cultivation of pulses. Besides, the government should also look into market forces to decide the price structure so farmers can collect enough profits.

7. Educating Farmers in Modern Technology

Farmers should be taught about modern farming techniques and technologies that can improve yield. Similarly, farmers should be taught crop-specific and region-specific techniques that are helpful in supporting the growth of crops.

Conclusion

As a result, these were the top 10 producers of pulses in India. Over the past three years, there is a significant growth in pulse production and commercialization in India. Furthermore, India supports 27-28% of the world’s demand for pulses. Furthermore, India supplements great weather and other agricultural-friendly aspects that are favourable for the growth of this foodgrain.

Rajasthan led the pulse production in the FY 2020-21 due to the state’s dependable weather conditions, flexible government-supported initiatives and great efforts and hard work done by farmers. In fact, India has tremendous potential to utilize more land for more production. Similarly our country can continue to be the world’s largest producer of pulses if the government and we together plan to increase the area of production, add more advanced seed varieties & technologies, additionally, provide easy access to the best farm mechanisation solutions.

So, if you are planning to invest in the best farming tractors and tractor implements for pulses cultivation, Tractor Junction is the only marketplace you need.

Frequently Asked Questions about Pulses in India

Que 1. Which seasons are best suited for the production of pulses in India?

Ans. Rabi and Kharif both are best suited for growing pulses in India. However, Rabi pulses lead with 60% of the total production of pulses. Following Indian pulse varieties are grown in these different seasons:

Season	Pulse Type
Kharif Season	Arhar (Tur) Urd (Blackgram) Moong (Green gram) Lobia (Cowpea) Kulthi (Horsegram)  Moth
Rabi Season	Gram Lentil Pea Lathyrus Rajmash
Summer Season	Greengram Blackgram Cowpea

Que 2. Where are pulses grown in India?

Ans. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra are India's top pulse-producing states. 

Que 3. How many pulses are there in India?

Ans. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, 11 pulses differ in size, colour, and shape. 

Que 4. Which is the largest producer of pulses in the world?

Ans. As per 2022-23 data, Madhya Pradesh is the leading producer of pulses in India, with an annual production of 58.51 lakh tonnes.

Que 5. Name the pulses grown in India popularly.

Ans. Gram accounts for 40% of the total pulse production in India, followed by Tur or Arhar daal, which accounts for 15-20%. Further, Urad and Moong account for 8-10% of total pulse production, respectively.

Que 6. Which different types of pulses are high selling in India?

Ans. The commonly sold pulses in India are gram, tur, urad, and moong.

Que 7. Is the cultivation of pulses in India feasible?

Ans. Yes, the cultivation of pulses in India is quite feasible. Likewise, it’s because India has great agro-climatic conditions, skilled farmers, and efficient technology and farm mechanisation solutions.

Que 8. Which are the top producers of Pulses in India state-wise in 2025?

Ans.  In 2025, the top 10 pulses-producing states in India are MP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, UP, Karnataka, Andra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.

Que 9. Pulses exported from India to which countries?

Ans. India is the second largest producer of pulses in the world. So, the state commonly exports its pulses to the UAE, US, and Nepal.

Que 10. Is organic farming suitable for pulse cultivation in India?

Ans. Yes, organic farming is suitable for pulses, as they naturally fix nitrogen in the soil, reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers.

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