INTRODUCTION A pulse (Latin) "puls", from Greek - poltos, "porridge"is an annual leguminous crop yielding from one to twelve

seeds of variable size, shape, and color within a pod. The term "pulse", as used by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry seed. This excludes green beans and green peas, which are considered vegetable crops.. Pulses are important food crops due to their high protein and essential amino acid content. Like many leguminous crops, pulses play a key role in crop rotation due to their ability to fix nitrogen. Just like words such as "bean" and "lentil", the word "pulse" may also refer to just the seed, rather than the entire plant. PROTEIN CONTENT Pulses are 20 to 25% protein by weight, which is double the protein content of wheat and three times that of rice. While pulses are generally high in protein, and the digestibility of that protein is also high, they often are relatively poor in the essential amino acid methionine although Indian cuisine includes sesame seeds, which contain high levels of methionine. Grains (which are themselves deficient in lysine) are commonly consumed along with pulses to form a complete diet of protein. HEALTH Pulses have significant nutritional and health advantages for consumers. They are the most important dietary predictor of survival in older people of different ethnicities and in the Seven Countries Study, legume consumption was highly correlated with a reduced mortality from coronary heart disease .Furthermore, pulses are especially high in amylose starch making them a good source of prebiotic resistant starch. WORLD ECONOMY India is the world's largest producer and the largest consumer of pulses. Pakistan, Canada, Myanmar, Australia and the United States, in that order, are significant exporters and are India's most significant suppliers.
India is likely to produce a record pulses crop of 16.5 million tons in 2010-11 due to improved acerage and adequate rainfall. India is the world's largest consumer of pulses, and higher output will help it reduce imports from around 3 million tons a year. The 4th Advanced Estimates of crop production for Year 2009-10 puts Indian pulses production at 14.59 million tonnes including 7.35 million tonnes for chickpeas. Prices of pulses in India are expected to come down due to prospect of good local arrival and the import support of 7-8 lakh tonne contracted by the government and the private parties, which will come at all the ports. Indias second-largest producer Maharashtras summer pulses harvest is likely to jump 65%, which contributes a fifth of Indias total production. As on Sept. 2 area under kharif pulses stood at 10.95 million hectares, compared to 9.02 million hectares a year ago.

Increase in pulses acerage is putting pressure on prices for all pulses like chickpeas, redgram and blackgram. Bumper crop in Karnataka, accounting for approx. 15 percent of the redgram acerage, is expected due to good rains and increase in area.