Inside India's Warehouses: How Pulses Are Being Lost To Pests

(MENAFN- Live Mint)

New Delhi: A government-commissioned study on India's pulses stocks has revealed serious gaps in storage practices, fuelling concerns over the availability of a key protein source for a large section of the population.

The study highlighted the need for uniform scientific protocols in storage and milling, after examining more than 500 stacks of pulses across 101 warehouses in major producing states.

Stacks of pulses refer to piles of pulse bags stored in warehouses, with each stack treated as one unit for monitoring quality.

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The report, reviewed by Mint, undertaken by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (ICAR–CIPHET) for the Department of Consumer Affairs, tracked quality changes in pigeon pea, chickpea, black gram, green gram and lentil over a 12-month period to help establish national norms for shelf life, safe storage and milling outturn.

According to an official involved in the process, better storage standards would help reduce wastage of pulses and, in turn, lower import dependence, as around 9% of pulses are lost nationally due to post-harvest issues, including poor warehousing.

“We have taken note of the study's findings and are exploring the development of unified standards for pulse storage, along with measures to increase domestic production," the official cited above said, requesting not to be named.

The findings gain significance at a time when India is facing a shortage of pulses and remains heavily dependent on imports of tur, urad, lentil and chana to meet domestic demand.

The government launched the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses in October 2025 with a ₹11,440 crore outlay over five years, aiming to achieve self-reliance by raising domestic production to 350 lakh tonnes (35 million tonnes) by 2030‐31 through expanded cultivation, improved seeds, MSP procurement, and value-chain support, while reducing imports, stabilizing prices and boosting farmer incomes.

The production of pulses has fallen from 27.3 million tonnes in FY22 to 26 million tonnes in FY23, and 24.5 million tonnes in FY24, according to agriculture ministry data. In FY25, total production stood at 25.7 million tonnes.

The 77-page study titled 'development of protocols for shelf life, safe storage, milling outturn and indicative norms for procurement of major pulses' found that fungal growth and lump formation appeared within just three to four months when black gram and green gram dal were stored in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bags at moisture levels above 12% under laboratory conditions.

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The report also found that LDPE bags of up to 75-micron thickness were used for storing pulses, which are unsuitable for storing dals, as they fail to protect against environmental fluctuations.

Instead, it suggested using polypropylene bags or laminated plastic packaging of adequate thickness, with airtight sealing to minimize insect damage.

Queries sent to the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution remained unanswered till press time.

According to the agriculture ministry data, over the past six years, the highest production was 27.3 million tonnes in FY22, while the lowest, 23 million tonnes, was recorded in FY20.

In contrast, import data show an altogether different picture, with India's pulse imports surging from 2.6 million tonnes in FY23 to 6.7 mt in FY25-a nine-year high-due to a favourable duty regime and softer domestic prices.

The findings of the study show that pulses stored in warehouses operated by central and state warehousing agencies face wide variations in moisture levels, temperature, humidity and infestation risk, making them more vulnerable than cereals during long-term storage.

“Investigators recorded quarterly data on damaged grain, weevilled grain, moisture content, weight loss and microbial load, using Bureau of Indian Standards sampling procedures. It was found that factors such as high humidity and poor aeration affect cooking quality and colour, and increase susceptibility to insect attack," the study noted.

The report notes that unscientific and inconsistent storage practices are contributing to avoidable losses of an essential protein commodity that plays a crucial role in filling India's nutrition gap.

Industry and policy experts say the findings reinforce long-standing concerns about outdated warehouse practices and the lack of commodity-specific handling norms for pulses.

“Going forward, national standards for the storage of pulses will be essential to minimise post-harvest losses, preserve quality and improve food safety across the supply chain. Clear and uniform storage norms can help address moisture control, pest management and quality deterioration, while also supporting more efficient movement, better inventory management and stronger market confidence in pulses," said B.B. Singh, former assistant director general (pulses), ICAR.

“One of the big reasons pulses get damaged in storage is that we use the same approach for very different commodities. Each variety reacts differently to moisture and ventilation, so uniform stacking leads to avoidable losses," said Amith Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of StarAgri, an agri-supply chain and warehousing company.

“Real-time digital stock visibility and regular physical checks can help prevent pilferage and adulteration. But India's stacking standards were created years ago and haven't kept pace with today's scale. We need modern, commodity-specific guidelines backed by intelligent storage technology to meaningfully reduce wastage," Agarwal added.

The report noted the wide geographic and climatic variability across the states studied, underlining how warehouse performance can differ depending on local temperature and humidity. Sampling records showed that not all pulses were stored in all states. For instance, lentils were stored primarily in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, while pigeon pea stocks were concentrated in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. In total, 208 samples of chickpea, 177 of pigeon pea, 72 of black gram, 42 of green gram and 30 of lentil were analysed.

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The study warned against the continued use of methyl bromide-banned globally under the Montreal Protocol-and recommends that fumigation be carried out only with aluminium phosphide at prescribed doses for storage of imported pulses at ports.

It further emphasized that bruchid infestation can cause severe damage within weeks, and that fumigation should be done immediately when insects are detected.

Given the high humidity at ports, the study calls for mandatory use of pheromone traps-which attract and capture specific insect pests using species-specific chemical signals-and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) insect traps in every warehouse chamber to monitor and control infestations effectively.

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