અડદ (બ્લેક ગ્રામ): the dal makhani pulse
Urad or black gram (Vigna mungo) is grown on roughly 4.7 million hectares producing about 2.7 million tonnes (DES 2024-25). The 2025-26 MSP is₹7,800/q (PIB 28 May 2025), making it one of the highest-priced pulses after moong and tur. Urad is the soul of dal makhani, idli/dosa batter, papad and vada — and the structurally short urad market (~3.5 LMT annual shortfall) is met through duty-free imports from Myanmar that depress mandi prices by ₹400-800/q.
Geographic concentration
Madhya Pradesh (28%): Bundelkhand (Tikamgarh, Datia, Sagar, Damoh) kharif urad on Vertisols; Malwa belt as a relay crop. Yields 9-13 q/ha. KU-301 (Kanpur Urd-301) dominant. NAFED PSS procurement in MP reached 1.2 LMT 2024-25.
Uttar Pradesh (16%): Bundelkhand summer urad after rabi mustard/wheat in Jhansi-Banda; eastern UP rice-fallow expansion. T-9 (Type-9), Pant U-30 popular.
Rajasthan (14%): Kota and Bundi rabi urad on Vertisols; arid Bikaner kharif rainfed. Mash-114 widely adopted.
Andhra Pradesh (9%): Krishna delta tank-fed rabi urad. LBG-752 preferred.
Maharashtra (8%): Vidarbha kharif intercrop with cotton; sole crop in Marathwada.
Tamil Nadu (5%): Cauvery delta rabi urad — primarily for idli/dosa batter market. CO-6 line popular.
Varieties
T-9 (Type-9) (Pusa, 1948) — the grand old line, still widely grown for its compact pod cluster and good processing quality. 10-12 q/ha potential, 70-75 days.KU-301 (CSAUAT Kanpur, 2007) — 80-day MP-UP workhorse, YMV-resistant, 12-15 q/ha. Mash-114 (PAU Ludhiana, 2004) — Punjab/Haryana summer urad, 75 days, 12 q/ha, YMV-tolerant. PU-31 (Pant University, 2012) — multi-disease-resistant, 75 days, suits UP-MP rabi. Pipeline includes machine-harvest erect lines for Bundelkhand rice-fallow expansion.
Agronomy and the Bundelkhand summer urad model
Kharif urad sowing window: June 25 to July 25; summer urad: March 15 to April 15. Seed rate 15-20 kg/ha at 30 × 10 cm. NPK 20:40:20 with Rhizobium-Trichoderma seed treatment. The Bundelkhand summer urad system has become a flagship case study — farmers fit a 70-75 day urad crop into the dry March-May window after rabi mustard or chickpea, using one canal/lift irrigation. Output of 8-10 q/ha at ₹7,500/q open mandi generates ₹35,000-45,000/ha of bonus revenue on previously fallow Vertisol. Eastern UP rice-fallow urad (Mirzapur, Sonbhadra) is the next expansion frontier via NFSM-Pulses and KU-301 multiplication.
Pests and the YMV evolution
Yellow Mosaic Virus (YMV) is the dominant biotic threat — same whitefly-vectored virus as in moong. YMV-resistant cultivars (KU-301, PU-31, Mash-114) have lifted urad yields substantially since 2010. Maruca vitrata pod borer attacks at flowering; ETL 10% pods damaged; chlorantraniliprole 18.5SC controls. Leaf-crinkle virus (a separate potyvirus) requires roguing infected plants. Thrips and whitefly populations need monitoring with yellow sticky traps; imidacloprid 17.8SL or thiamethoxam 25WG sprays as ETL is crossed.
Economics, PSS and the Myanmar import lever
CACP places urad C2 cost at ~₹5,800-6,200/q (2022-23 crop year). Against MSP ₹7,800/q, C2 margin is ~26-34%. Open-mandi modal prices through harvest (October-December for kharif urad, June-July for summer urad) typically range ₹7,000-8,000/q — at or near MSP. Duty-free urad imports from Myanmar push prices down during their May-June harvest cycle, depressing summer urad realisations in Punjab-UP by ~10%. NAFED PSS active in MP, UP, RJ at MSP — accessible via FPO and notified APMCs. PSS procurement in 2024-25 reached ~2.5 LMT.
A Tikamgarh Bundelkhand farmer with 1 ha KU-301 kharif urad yielding 11 q/ha at ₹7,800/q PSS: gross ₹85,800, cash cost ~₹13,000, net cash margin ₹72,800/ha (~₹29,000/acre). On a summer-urad system using residual mustard moisture and one irrigation: same ~₹29,000/acre additional on previously idle land — a structural improvement in family income for marginal Bundelkhand farmers where average holding is 1.1 ha.
Schemes and the Bundelkhand pulse mission
NFSM-Pulses subsidises urad seed, machinery and IPM. PM-AASHA PSS active. Madhya Pradesh's Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (price-difference subsidy) was specifically used for urad in 2017-18 and is being restructured. PM-KISAN, PMFBY at 2% kharif premium, KCC at 4% subvented rate apply standardly. UP Bundelkhand Special Package (since 2018) provides additional ₹500/ha bonus on first 5 q per farmer.
Where urad goes next
The processing-quality dimension matters: dal makhani buyers (ITC, Britannia, MTR) pay ₹200-400/q premium for bold whole grain with uniform size and minimum mottle. The machine-harvest erect-type lines under IIPR pipeline would unlock Bundelkhand mechanisation, enabling 2 ha smallholders to harvest summer urad without seasonal labour bottlenecks. If Bundelkhand summer urad scales from current ~1.5 lakh hectares to a feasible 5 lakh hectares by 2030, the additional ~3 LMT production would close India's urad import gap entirely.