Water productivity of major pulses – A review

The majority of pulses provide nutritional security to humankind apart from having environmental service in enriching soil health. Cultivated over 95.75 million hectares, the average pulse productivity is around 1.0 t ha−1. Pulses perform better under irrigated conditions. Irrigation water as a critical input ensures enhancing productivity for pulse crops. The irrigation water used by pulses varies widely; it is as low as 5.7 mm during rainy season to 609 mm during the dry season. Accordingly, the average water productivity of major pulse ranges from 0.67 to 7.51 kg ha−1mm−1. Various innovative approaches for enhancing water productivity can be adopted, which help minimize water losses, thereby increasing yields. Adopting micro-irrigation for pulses reduces water consumption and thereby increases yield substantially. Under water-limited situations, deficit or critical stage-based pulses irrigation also ensures higher water productivity. Bed planting, ridge, and furrow planting are proven methods for pulses to increase water productivity by 20–40% due to easy aeration, reduced lodging, and easy access to intercultural operations. However, irrigation methods have a more significant impact on the quality of pulses. Pulse production functions show a linear relationship with irrigation water as one of the inputs during the growing period. This paper emphasizes the strategies followed globally to enhance the water productivity of major pulses like chickpeas, cowpeas, pigeon peas, lentils, black and green gram, and beans.