Performance of the Major Pulses Crop in India: Growth and Instability

The present paper deals with the comparative assessment of instability and growth rate in area, production, and yield of major pulses in India. In the analysis, Cuddy-Della Valle (CDV) instability indices and compound growth rates (CGRs) are computed on utilizing secondary time series data on area, production, and yield of major pulses (viz., chickpea, pigeon pea, urdbean and mungbean) pertaining to the period 2000-2021. The comparative assessment has been made by further classifying the concerned period into three periods i.e. period-I (2000 to 2010), period-II (2011 to 2021), and the overall period (2000 to 2021). Moreover, the statistical coefficients viz., coefficient of variation (CV) and coefficient of determination have been measured. The findings of the investigation reveal that, during the overall period, highest instability in area is observed in urdbean, whereas the least instability in area is observed in chickpea. Among the pulses, mungbean reported highest instability in production as well as yield, whereas chickpea witnessed least instability in production as well as yield. During the overall period, the highest growth rates in area, production, and yield have been observed in chickpea.