Pulses

Dry lentils and chickpeas, protein-rich seeds that fix their own nitrogen, with India the giant consumer and Canada and Australia key exporters.

Fruit, roots & pulses · No. 118

• Not on a critical list
• HHI 1,837 · moderately concentrated

India grows two-thirds of the world's chickpeas, yet still buys a third of all imported pulses, which makes dal political.

Chart: Illustration: Pulses

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Lentils and chickpeas are cool-season legumes grown in rotation with wheat and canola; in 2024 the world harvested 7.89 million tonnes of lentils and 16.9 million of chickpeas.

Three things to know

1. Root bacteria let lentils and chickpeas fix nitrogen from the air, so they need little fertiliser and enrich soil for the next cereal.
2. Canada, not India, is the top lentil grower with 30.8% of output in 2024, and leads dried pulse exports with 21.8%.
3. World lentil output roughly tripled from 2.57 million tonnes in 1990 to 7.89 million in 2024.

The journey

1. 1 Rotation sowingSown between cereal crops, fixing nitrogen
2. 2 Combine harvestDry pods harvested on prairie farms
3. 3 CleaningGraded by size, colour and cleanliness
4. 4 Dal millingSplit and dehulled for cooking
5. 5 KitchenDal, besan, hummus and protein flour

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