India, Feb. 2 -- As India approaches the close of FY24-25, the economy finds itself at a crossroads. The National Statistics Office (NSO) projected a GDP growth rate of 6.4%, the slowest expansion in four years and lower than FY18-19. To this end, the budget speech 2025 hit all the right notes. Recognising the need to reform agriculture - which saw a modest 3.8% increase in FY24-25 real GVA, the budget rightly mentioned the need to enhance agricultural productivity, facilitate credit, and focus on crop diversification. The emphasis on pulses through the Mission for Atmanirbharta in Pulses also signals a much-needed reform to our agriculture production and farmer incentives. The recent Household Consumption and Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022, showed a decline in share of pulses in overall monthly per capita expenditure in rural areas. Hopefully, moving farmers to pulse cultivation will pave the way for the critical need to revamp the public distribution system to finally move away from providing just rice and wheat....