Spatial Shift in Chickpeas in India
B. Abirami and Parmod Kumar
Abstract With increasing malnourishment and being home for a large number of
vegetarian populations compared to the rest of the world, India considers Chickpeas
as the best alternative for animal proteins. Chickpeas, enriched with high protein
content has been gaining importance in the present era as they serve as a supplement
for cereal based diets. Climate change as the major challenge faced by other crops,
cultivation of chickpeas will become increasingly important in the near future. In the
recent times, the traditional chickpeas cultivating area had witnessed reduction in its
area and production. At the same time there is an increase in the area under chickpeas
cultivation in their unconventional zones of the country. The current study examines
the changing patterns in the centre of chickpeas production in India. State wise
yearly data on area, production and yield of chickpeas are collected from 1964–65
to 2016–17. The analysis of the data reveals that there is a regional shift in chickpeas
cultivation from Northern and Eastern Zones to Southern, Central and Western Zones
of the country. The major reason for this regional shift is the changing climate and
rainfall pattern and availability of short-duration cultivars in Central and Southern
India which are absent in Northern and Eastern Zones.
Keywords Chickpeas · Spatial shift · Protein
1 Introduction
Pulses production in India has witnessed many changes since the advent of Green
Revolution. The domination of cereals in Indian agriculture has reduced the importance of cultivation of pulses and their intake. High malnourishment coupled with
large vegetarian population, the future of pulses is of special significance in Indian
agriculture. India shares 35% of global area and production of pulses (Directorate
of Pulses Development). India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses (Food
and Agricultural Organisation). Major pulses grown in India are chickpea, pigeon
B. Abirami · P. Kumar (B)
ADRTC, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore 560072, India
e-mail: pkumar@isec.ac.in
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
N. Roy et al. (eds.), Socio-economic and Eco-biological Dimensions
in Resource use and Conservation, Environmental Science and Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32463-6_20
399
B. Abirami and Parmod Kumar
Abstract With increasing malnourishment and being home for a large number of
vegetarian populations compared to the rest of the world, India considers Chickpeas
as the best alternative for animal proteins. Chickpeas, enriched with high protein
content has been gaining importance in the present era as they serve as a supplement
for cereal based diets. Climate change as the major challenge faced by other crops,
cultivation of chickpeas will become increasingly important in the near future. In the
recent times, the traditional chickpeas cultivating area had witnessed reduction in its
area and production. At the same time there is an increase in the area under chickpeas
cultivation in their unconventional zones of the country. The current study examines
the changing patterns in the centre of chickpeas production in India. State wise
yearly data on area, production and yield of chickpeas are collected from 1964–65
to 2016–17. The analysis of the data reveals that there is a regional shift in chickpeas
cultivation from Northern and Eastern Zones to Southern, Central and Western Zones
of the country. The major reason for this regional shift is the changing climate and
rainfall pattern and availability of short-duration cultivars in Central and Southern
India which are absent in Northern and Eastern Zones.
Keywords Chickpeas · Spatial shift · Protein
1 Introduction
Pulses production in India has witnessed many changes since the advent of Green
Revolution. The domination of cereals in Indian agriculture has reduced the importance of cultivation of pulses and their intake. High malnourishment coupled with
large vegetarian population, the future of pulses is of special significance in Indian
agriculture. India shares 35% of global area and production of pulses (Directorate
of Pulses Development). India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses (Food
and Agricultural Organisation). Major pulses grown in India are chickpea, pigeon
B. Abirami · P. Kumar (B)
ADRTC, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore 560072, India
e-mail: pkumar@isec.ac.in
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
N. Roy et al. (eds.), Socio-economic and Eco-biological Dimensions
in Resource use and Conservation, Environmental Science and Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32463-6_20
399