About World Pulses Day
World Pulses Day is marked every 10 February, in 2027 on Wednesday, 10 February 2027. The UN General Assembly set the date in December 2018 to carry on from the International Year of Pulses in 2016, and FAO leads it. India is the world's largest producer and consumer of pulses, and still the largest importer, which is why the day gets more official attention here than in most countries.
Most of India eats a pulse every day without calling it one. Dal, chana, rajma, lobia and the batter under a dosa are all the same category of crop: legume seeds harvested dry. World Pulses Day is the day the food system talks about them out loud.
What is World Pulses Day and why 10 February?
The United Nations declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses. It worked well enough that the General Assembly, at its seventy-third session on 20 December 2018, set 10 February as a permanent annual date. The first World Pulses Day was in 2019, and the Food and Agriculture Organization runs it.
What counts as a pulse, and what does not?
A pulse is the dry, edible seed of a legume. FAO recognises eleven primary pulses: dry beans, dry broad beans, dry peas, chickpeas, cowpeas, pigeon peas, lentils, Bambara groundnuts, vetches, lupins and a small "other" group.
Three exclusions catch people out:
- Green peas and green beans are vegetables, not pulses, because they are picked fresh rather than dried.
- Soybean and groundnut are oilseeds. They are legumes, but they are grown mainly for oil, so FAO counts them separately.
- Fodder legumes like clover and lucerne are out, because they are grown for animals or for sowing.
So in Indian terms: tur, chana, moong, urad, masoor and rajma are pulses. Matar sold fresh in winter is a vegetable. Groundnut, despite being in every chikki, is not a pulse.
| Pulse | Common Indian names | Usually eaten as |
|---|---|---|
| Pigeon pea | Tur, arhar, toor, thuvaram paruppu | The everyday yellow dal; the base of sambar |
| Chickpea | Chana, kabuli chana, chholay, kadalai | Chana dal, besan, chhole, sundal |
| Green gram | Moong, pesalu, pachai payaru | Moong dal, sprouts, khichdi, pongal, halwa |
| Black gram | Urad, ulundu, minapa | Dal makhani, idli and dosa batter, papad, vada |
| Red lentil | Masoor, masur | Quick everyday dal in the north and east |
| Cowpea | Lobia, chawli, alasande | Curry, usal, sundal |
| Kidney bean | Rajma, rajmah | Rajma chawal; grown in Himachal, Jammu and the hills |
| Horse gram | Kulthi, huruli, kollu | Rasam, saaru and winter soups in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand |
Why do pulses matter so much in India?
Two reasons, one on the plate and one in the soil.
On the plate, pulses are the main affordable protein for a very large number of Indians, especially in vegetarian households and for anyone who cannot buy meat, eggs or milk regularly. They also keep for months without refrigeration, which is why a kilo of dal travels further than most foods in a country with patchy cold storage.
In the field, legumes fix nitrogen from the air into the soil through bacteria in their root nodules. A pulse in the rotation leaves the ground in better condition for the cereal that follows and makes chemical fertiliser go further. That is why agronomists keep pushing pulses into rice fallows, land that lies empty after the paddy is cut.
India is the world's largest producer and consumer of pulses and still cannot grow enough. In 2023-24 the country imported more than 47 lakh tonnes. Output has risen from 192.6 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 to 252.38 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 on third advance estimates, but demand has risen too.
The government's answer is the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, approved by the Union Cabinet on 1 October 2025 with an outlay of 11,440 crore rupees, running from 2025-26 to 2030-31. Its main promise to farmers is procurement: NAFED and NCCF are to buy tur, urad and masoor at the minimum support price, which is the part that decides whether a farmer in Vidarbha or Bundelkhand risks a pulse crop instead of a safer one.
Most of India's pulses come from rainfed land in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, often on fields that get no irrigation at all. A dry spell at flowering can take out a season. That is the real reason dal prices spike, and it is worth remembering before blaming the grocer.
What can a school, office or community group actually do?
- Ask your canteen or mid-day meal kitchen what pulse goes into the dal, and how much per plate. The answer is often thinner than people assume.
- Run a swap: every family brings one katori of a pulse their region cooks, with the recipe. It teaches more than a chart of protein values.
- If you buy in bulk for a hostel or a temple kitchen, look at local varieties before imported yellow peas. It changes what farmers nearby plant next season.
- Farmers' groups can use the day to check the current MSP for tur, urad and masoor, and which agency is procuring in the district.
What should you write on World Pulses Day?
Today is World Pulses Day. The dal in your lunch box is a crop that puts nitrogen back into the soil. Ask at home which dal your grandmother cooked most, and why.
On World Pulses Day, respect to everyone growing tur and chana on rainfed land and gambling on the rain. Check the MSP and the procurement centre for your block this week.
Marking World Pulses Day with a request: one new pulse on the menu each month. Start with lobia or kulith. The cooks already know how.
Happy World Pulses Day to the one person here who gets excited about rice fallows. Send me that paper you keep mentioning.
World Pulses Day today, which mostly made me think of your dal. Nobody else gets the tadka right. Teach me properly the next time I am home.
Thank you for getting dal onto plates that would otherwise go without protein. On World Pulses Day, that is the whole job named in one line.
Related days: World Food Day on 16 October, World Soil Day on 5 December, and National Farmers Day on 23 December.
How to wish someone on World Pulses Day
Nobody sends a pulses day card, and pretending otherwise looks silly. What the day is useful for is a line in a school assembly, a canteen notice, a farmers' group message or an office post. The strongest angle is specific: the dal your family actually cooks, the farmer who grows tur in a dry field, the anganwadi worker who gets protein into a child's plate. Keep it concrete and skip the nutrition lecture.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.
When is World Pulses Day in 2026 and 2027?
World Pulses Day is on 10 Feb every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is World Pulses Day in 2027?
World Pulses Day 2027 falls on Wednesday, 10 February 2027.
What is the difference between a pulse and a legume?
All pulses are legumes, but not all legumes are pulses. A pulse is the dry seed of a legume plant, such as chana, tur, masoor or rajma. Legumes picked fresh, like green peas and green beans, count as vegetables, and legumes grown mainly for oil, like soybean and groundnut, count as oilseeds.
Is groundnut a pulse?
No. Groundnut is classed as an oilseed because it is grown mainly for oil, even though the plant is a legume. The same applies to soybean.
Which pulses does India grow the most?
Chana (chickpea) and tur or arhar (pigeon pea) are the two biggest, with urad, moong and masoor making up most of the rest. Tur, urad and masoor are the three the government's pulses mission targets, because those are where domestic supply falls shortest. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are the leading growing states, and much of the crop is grown on rainfed land without irrigation.
Why does India import pulses if it is the largest producer?
Because it is also the largest consumer. Domestic production has grown, from 192.6 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 to 252.38 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 on third advance estimates, but demand has grown alongside it, and imports crossed 47 lakh tonnes in 2023-24. The Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, approved in October 2025, aims to close that gap by 2030-31.
Why are pulses good for the soil?
Legumes host bacteria in their root nodules that take nitrogen from the air and fix it into the soil. A pulse grown in rotation leaves nitrogen behind for the next crop and improves how well chemical fertiliser works, which is why pulses are pushed into rotations and into fields left empty after paddy.
How should a school or office mark World Pulses Day?
Do something with food rather than slides. Add a pulse the canteen has never cooked, ask how much dal actually goes into each plate of the mid-day meal, or have families bring one regional pulse dish with its recipe. It teaches more than a nutrition chart.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .