This article highlights the significant role pulses play in enhancing biodiversity and promoting sustainable agriculture. Pulses, through their symbiotic relationship with bacteria like Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium, can fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil, thereby improving soil fertility.

Some varieties also have the ability to release soil-bound phosphorus, further contributing to plant nutrition. The genetic diversity of pulses is crucial for on-farm soil and pest management, especially for small-scale farmers. Incorporating pulses into multiple cropping systems, such as intercropping, crop rotation, and agroforestry, enriches agro-biodiversity, enhances resilience to climate change, and improves ecosystem services. For instance, intercropping pigeon peas with cereals in smallholder farming systems has shown benefits like drought tolerance and efficient water use.

Additionally, pulses often promote higher rates of soil carbon accumulation than cereals or grasses, contributing to improved carbon sequestration in agro-ecosystems. The article underscores that good soil health is the foundation of food security, and pulses play a multiple role in promoting living organisms and ecological complexity to re-establish the natural good functioning of ecosystems.