Common Pulses of India

The term "pulse", as used by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry seed. This excludes green beans and green peas, which are considered vegetable crops. Pulses are important food crops due to their high protein and essential amino acid content. Like many leguminous crops, pulses play a key role in crop rotation due to their ability to fix nitrogen. India is the world's largest producer and the largest consumer of pulses.

The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) or Toor dal or Arhar or Red gram is an important legume crop of rainfed agriculture in the semiarid tropics. A group of Indian scientists have decoded the genome of ‘Arhar’, the second most important pulse crop of India.

chickpea (Cicer arietinum) or chana or Bengal gram. India is the world leader in chickpea (Bengal gram) production.

Green Gram (Vigna radiata) or Mung  is native to the Indian subcontinent.

Black Gram (Vigna mungo) or Black Gram or Urad

Soya Bean is widely grown and has many uses

Pea (Pisum sativum)