Pulse crops are proving popular with growers given the price of urea yet returns hinge more on the subcontinent markets than ever before.

This popularity is illustrated in the recent projections from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences with the area planted to lentils in South Australia and Victoria following a similar trend.

The total lentil area is 1 per cent higher year-on-year and an impressive 33 per cent higher than the five-year average.

The swing to lentils has continued despite the 35 per cent price fall which commenced in June 2025 to a low of $590 a tonne last October.

Fortunately for growers, prices had recovered to $700 a tonne in early April and have settled to $650 a tonne this week.

This decline in the lentil price coincided with the imposition of a tariff on exports to India.

A zero tariff was in place for Australian lentils during 2024 however in May 2025 the Indian government imposed a 10 per cent tariff combined with a quota of 150,000 tonnes a year at 5 per cent. In the nine months to March, Australian customs data shows India is the largest lentil destination with 555,600 tonnes or 44 per cent of the total exported.

India is the world’s largest, consumer, producer and importer of pulses. Although India aspires to self-sufficiency in their production, Indian production of pulses has progressively declined by 13 per cent during the past four years and imports are essential.

According to Indian government data, during the past 10 years pulse imports have varied between 8.8 and 18.2 per cent of total supply.

Last month the Indian rupee hit a record low against the US dollar which coincided with a period when the US and Iran rejected each other’s proposals for peace.

This currency change means that at the same value in US dollars, imported commodities are more expensive in local currency.

The currency changes highlight some potential impacts for India and its pulse imports.

The Indian government imposes strong influence over pulse prices in a balancing act between ensuring cheap food for the county’s 1.47 billion people and its farmers who are a powerful political force in India.

With imported pulses often trading under the minimum support price set for pulse farmers in India and to avoid imported pulses undermining the prices paid to Indian pulse producers, there was some talk of an increased tariff of 30 per cent earlier this year.

It can be speculated that while imported prices for fuel, pulses and other essential commodities remain high, there will be pressure on the Indian government to restrain inflation and the cost of food for the people of India.

Lentil imports have declined and according to an Indian government spokesperson lentil imports are not detrimental to prices received by local farmers.

This opinion is shared among Australian traders and analysts meaning the current relatively concessional import tariff for lentils to India is unlikely to change.