In a world searching for resilient food systems, and plant-based proteins, pulses stand quietly yet firmly as pole stars. Pulses have long been treated as modest foods, but their contributions extend far beyond basic nourishment. By supporting human health while strengthening soil ecosystems, pulses occupy a rare combination of nutrition and sustainability. Through their symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria, pulses fix 200-300 kg N/ha/year from the atmosphere into bioavailable forms, enriching soils and fostering diverse microbial communities (Peoples et al., 1995). This supplies 65-70% of the crop nitrogen demands, reducing fertilizer use while boosting and thus standing out for what they do not demand. The deep root systems anchor the soil, limit erosion, and improve the soil structure one season at a time. Their inherent tolerance to pests and diseases and less water requirement further cuts reliance on chemical interventions, enabling the ecosystems to rebalance. Despite this, pulse production is largely driven by smallholder farmers and often sidelined by subsidies, technology investment, and agricultural policies. This resulted in a sector which is rich in potential but constrained in practice.

Bountiful Mungbean Harvest, Odisha State, India

Photo credit: Seed Systems Team, ICRISAT

The Long Arc of Pulses: From modesty to excellence

Pulses have evolved on par with human civilization since the earliest stages of agriculture. Archaeological evidence indicates that peas, lentils, vetches and chickpea were integral crops of Neolithic farming systems in the Middle East, as a part of the first agricultural reports (Hutchinson, 1970). Their early adoption reflects that the initial farming communities recognised pulses as eminent nutrition components that complemented cereal-based diets and enriched soils by sustaining productivity along the way. As agriculture expanded, pulses diversified and became regionally adapted which could be mostly credited to its nitrogen fixation ability. In Africa and Asia, crops such as cowpea, pigeonpea, mungbean, blackgram, mothbean and lablab were domesticated to suit warmer and drier climates, while chickpea and lentil spread from the fertile crescent into South Asia and the Mediterranean regions. Domestication led to reduced pod shattering, increased seed size, compact annual growth habits, altered photoperiod sensitivity, enhanced harvestability, yield potential and culinary quality. Today, pulses remain indispensable to global food and farming systems, underscoring their nutritional, economic, environmental and industrial importance.

Pulse Diversity in a Changing Global Food System

Out of thousands of edible plant species, the current global food system depends heavily on just a few crops like wheat, rice, and maize. This overreliance erodes biodiversity, narrows diets, and increases vulnerability to pests, disease outbreaks, and harvest losses. In this scenario, pulses offer far more than efficient protein, they represent a deep reservoir of biodiversity that modern food systems have barely begun to use. Across Africa and Asia, pulses display remarkable genetic diversity, shaped by centuries of farmer selection and local adaptation. Pulse genetic resources are distributed across 107 countries, encompassing approximately 158 reported species and about 708,008 accessions conserved in 267 genebanks worldwide (https://www.fao.org/wiews/en/). Despite this vast and geographically diverse repository, research and breeding efforts remain heavily concentrated on only a small subset of pulse species, leaving a large proportion of available genetic diversity underexplored and underutilized. From fast-growing mungbean cultivated in rice fallows or after wheat harvest to long-life cycle legumes thriving in marginal soils they have evolved with agroecologies. However, research efforts for decades mainly focused on short-duration varieties aimed at rapid grain production, overlooking longer-cycle species that contribute more strongly to soil fertility, ecosystem resilience and multifunctional farming systems. Researchers are now actively harnessing this vast diversity to identify donors for resilience traits. Germplasm conservation and evaluation feeds into breeding for climate-resilience, nutritional rich pulses, steadily improving the productivity and adaptability. Further underutilized pulses like Vigna species are being grown for revitalizing marginal lands which are often deemed unfit for staple crops. Moth bean, native to Thar desert in India, covers more than 1Mha of marginal farmland, boosting subsequent cereal yields by 15-25% through residual fertility. In parallel pulses play a critical role in enhancing the soil biodiversity through microbial activity, nitrogen fixation and phosphorus solubilization via root exudates and symbiosis.

Blackgram crop at podding stage, Odisha State, India

Photo credit: Seed Systems Team, ICRISAT

Pulses at the Forefront of Sustainability

Across the globe, farmers are rethinking how they grow food. Increasing input costs, declining soil fertility, and climate uncertainty are pushing agriculture towards the systems that conserve resources and rebuild soil health. In this quiet transformation, pulses are emerging as dependable allies. Long valued for their nourishing potential, pulses are also recognised for an equally important role, which is sustaining the living soil on which agriculture depends. When pulses enter a farming system, they do more than just fill the land for a season. Over time, these restore soil vitality, improve crop performance, nutrient cycling and thus lay the groundwork for lasting productivity.  One of the most remarkable qualities of pulses is their ability to remain productive across rainfed, depleted, and marginal environments where many crops fail and thus stabilizing production under challenging conditions. The pulse family is highly diverse, encompassing species that mature rapidly, deep rooted and tolerate drought, heat, or weed pressure allowing the farmers to match crops precisely to local conditions across drylands, uplands, and mixed systems. The value of pulses extends beyond production, offering food security that does not rely on cold chains or continuous infrastructure, making them dependable in places where modern supply systems falter.

Pulses on the Plate: Global shift towards nutritional sustainability through innovation

Pulses are a critically important and highly adaptable global food source, delivering significant advantages for both human health and environmental sustainability. They are nutritionally dense, packed with protein, dietary fibre, iron, and various micronutrients coupled with a notably low environmental footprint. They require ten times less water than beef for equivalent protein and emit only 0.4 kg CO₂ equivalents which is in stark contrast to meat, which exceed 20 kg. They integrate effortlessly into traditional cuisines across diverse regions, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Mediterranean and hence forms a powerful and widely accepted means of encouraging positive dietary shifts. From familiar foods like hummus, falafel, and dal to modern plant-based burgers, pulses are celebrated globally for their umami-rich profiles and versatile textures, making them ideal for meeting trends like vegan and gluten-free diets. Their complex carbohydrates, essential micronutrients, and low glycaemic load align perfectly with contemporary health priorities. The utility of pulses is expanding in the food industry. Chickpea isolates (from innovators like ChickP and Innovopro) are being incorporated into meat alternatives and beverages in Europe and Israel, offering high functionality and clean-label appeal. Lentil protein concentrates and pea starch are similarly fuelling innovation in bakery and snack products. This trend reflects significant market growth, evidenced by the US plant-based meat market surpassing USD 3.21 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.1% from 2025 to 2030 (US plant-based meat market).

Beyond basic nutrition, several underutilized pulses offer functional and medicinal benefits. Lablab bean shows potential in supporting type II diabetes management, while horse gram contains bioactive compounds linked to improved cholesterol regulation and obesity management. Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) seeds are noted for their antimicrobial properties, and grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) has been associated with protective effects against cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis), widely known as “weight loss bean” in Asia for its low calorie and fat content, is often recommended for weight management diets (Dwivedi et al., 2023). Pigeonpea, boasts a seed coat with six times more calcium than milk presenting a promising avenue for addressing health issues like osteoporosis and rickets. Despite the health benefits, these pulses are restricted to regional relevance over global visibility.

Policy for pulse excellence of today

A quiet revolution in pulses is unfolding, the one that bridges traditions of agroecology with tomorrow’s global food needs. Today, pulses such as lentils, chickpeas, pigeonpea and dry peas are no longer just staples in local diets, they are central to a global policy narrative on sustainable food security. According to the latest OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook (OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025-2034), global pulse production is projected to grow by 26 million tonnes by 2034, as people around the world seek nutritious, plant-based proteins. As the world’s pulse market expands, policy makers begun focusing on crafting frameworks that connect healthy soils to healthy diets and stronger global food systems. The International Year of Pulses (2016) marked a turning point by reframing pulses as climate-smart, nutrition-sensitive crops aligned with SDG-2.  On the research front the CGIAR Grain Legumes Program (ICRISAT/ICARDA) is developing climate-smart varieties, conserving accessions and scaling technology in drylands. This international momentum has translated into national action, including India’s Aatmanirbharta Mission on Pulses (2025–31) which targets 35 million tonnes through minimum support price, seed hubs, and varietal replacement aligned with FAO–IFAD rotation strategies, while the EU and U.S. are embedding pulses into green-deal frameworks as low-GHG crops, alongside gradual reforms in global trade policies addressing tariffs and market access.

Pulse Revolution or Recalibration: Where Do We Stand?

On the production side, pulses remain underprioritized in many regions receiving less research investment, weaker market support, and lower policy attention than cereals or livestock. On the consumption side, pulses are praised rhetorically but often sidelined in practice, especially in high-income food systems shaped by convenience and ultra processing. Plant based diets are expanding, not as ideology but as pragmatism. Food industries are rediscovering pulses for their functionality, affordability, and clean-label appeal. Governments and global institutions increasingly frame pulses within discussions of nutrition security, climate adaptation, and sustainable diets. This is not revolution but recalibration. Pulses do not demand radical change but need gradual shifts. So, is a pulse revolution necessary? Probably not in a drastic sense, but re-centering is the priority. The world may not be ready for a revolution, but it is already adjusting its footing. And in that adjustment, pulses are moving quietly but steadily from the margins toward the middle of the plate.

References:

1. Dwivedi, S.L., Chapman, M.A., Abberton, M.T., Akpojotor, U.L. and Ortiz, R., 2023. Exploiting genetic and genomic resources to enhance productivity and abiotic stress adaptation of underutilized pulses. Frontiers in Genetics, 14, p.1193780.
2. Hutchinson, J.B., 1970. The evolutionary diversity of the pulses. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 29(1), pp.49-55.
3. Peoples, M.B., Herridge, D.F. and Ladha, J.K., 1995. Biological nitrogen fixation: an efficient source of nitrogen for sustainable agricultural production? Plant and soil, 174(1), pp.3-28.
4. Pradhan, B.K., Prashad, A., Das, B. and Ghosh, B., 2025. Changes in GHG emissions of protein substitution from conventional to alternative sources. Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy, p.100174.