Factors influencing household pulse consumption in India: A multilevel model analysis.

Pulses (also known as legumes) are important in achieving nutrient adequacy in India due to their quality protein content. This study compared district-level pulse production and consumption across India, and household and district-level determinants of pulse intake, including availability, accessibility and affordability, using multi-level models in nationally representative datasets for 2011-12. The per capita consumption was about 50% of recommended intake (80 g/day), even in high-producing districts. District-level pulse production was associated with household pulse intake (2.73 × 10 ^-8 [5.19 × 10 ^-9 , 4.94 × 10 ^-8 ]) and market accessibility (-0.0077 [-0.0133, -0.0021]). Affordability (absolute price of pulse) was also associated with household intake. While agricultural policies relating to pulses have been oriented towards improving pulse output and productivity, forward-looking policies to improve pulse intake should focus on demand-side factors, such as improved market accessibility and the affordability of pulses relative to other foods.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(© 2021 The Authors.)