Pulses may offer solutions to broken, outdated global food system: Temasek

[SINGAPORE] Pulses, or edible plant seeds such as chickpeas and lentils, could be the transformative answer to a global food system that is under severe strain.

However, while demand for pulses is rising, the yield has stagnated in key production regions, indicating a “failure of investment and of government policies”, said Anuj Maheshwari, managing director and head of agri-food at Temasek, during a keynote at Pulses 25 in Singapore on Wednesday (May 21).

The conference at Fairmont Hotel in Singapore is organised by the Global Pulse Confederation (GPC), a Dubai-based industry body whose membership includes 20 national associations and over 500 private sector members.

During the speech, Temasek’s Maheshwari called for breakthroughs across the pulse value chain, from breeding to market infrastructure, to advance production yield of the edible seeds that are not only more environmentally friendly, but climate-change resilient.

“Pulses produce 90 per cent fewer emissions per gram of protein than beef. They use half the water of soy and corn to produce the same amount of calories. They require 20 times less land than animal proteins,” said Maheshwari, adding that these plants also fix atmospheric nitrogen that is responsible for as much as 6 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions.

At the farming stage, pulses have a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots, allowing them to convert atmospheric nitrogen gas into a usable form for plants. This process of nitrogen fixation not only enriches the soil, making it less reliant on synthetic fertilisers, but also reduces nitrogen compounds in the air that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

If beef is Hummer, a type of heavy-duty vehicles, pulses being “efficient, low impact and built for the future” is like the electric car for food, said Maheshwari.

Broken food system

“The (current) food system is not just broken. It is also outdated,” he added.

While accounting for a third of the global greenhouse emissions, the food system remains among the slowest sector to decarbonise. Drawing 70 per cent of global fresh water, the sector is also producing huge amounts of calories that are low in nutritional value.

“Let’s face it, the global food system is built for volume, not resilience. It’s built for efficiency, not sustainability. It’s built for yields, not health,” noted Maheshwari.

While the global food system is now feeding more people than ever before, one in 10 persons is undernourished.

This represents about 735 million people, concentrated in Asia and Africa, highlighted Murad Katib, president and chief executive officer of AGT Food and Ingredients. He added that up to 3 billion people per year are in food-insecure environments.

There is arable land loss. The agricultural crops make up 82 per cent of the global calories produced, but occupy less than 25 per cent of total agricultural land, noted AGT’s Katib.

“The scarcest resources in the world today are land and water,” Katib noted in his keynote speech, adding that transformation opportunities lie in areas such as preserving soil health and improving productive capacity.

Innovation to improve yields

Temasek’s Maheshwari highlighted that pulses’ yields have increased by less than 1 per cent annually in the past 20 years, in key producing regions such as India and Canada.

This is contrast to the yields of corn and soy, where biotech breeding, advanced agronomy and mechanisation have unlocked 2 to 3 per cent yield growth.

While pulses enable “regenerative food systems”, they remain “underfunded, under-developed and under-celebrated”, said Maheshwari, adding that the industry needs to tell better stories about pulses to gain the world’s recognition.

He highlighted that Temasek has committed over S$10 billion in the last decade in agri-food sector innovation, an area where it sees profit generation and planetary health improvement.

Among the 45 companies of the sector that Temasek has invested in, Impossible Foods develops plant-based substitutes for meat products. Less well-known is Growthwell Foods, a Singapore-based food manufacturer that is working with an Israeli firm to bring chickpea proteins into other foods.

“We need a transformation, and pulses, humble yet powerful, is probably part of a bigger answer,” said Maheshwari.

Trump effect might be limited in pulses trade

Rabobank’s executive director of RaboResearch Lief Chiang noted in his keynote that Canada, Australia and Russia dominate export flows while India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh lead imports in pulses trade.

The US, on the other hand, only accounts for 7 per cent of global purchase export and 3 per cent of import in the pulse sector.

“So overall, we believe that the direct impact of the US trade war on global purchase trade appears to be fairly limited,” said Rabobank’s Chiang, adding that indirect impacts, such as rising container freight rates as traders rush to flow shipments during the 90-day tariff pause, are visible in free markets. 

“Nevertheless, the longer term impacts remain uncertain and will largely depend on the outcome of the ongoing trade negotiations,” he added.

Vijay Iyengar, GPC’s president, highlighted in his opening address that, in the current context of trade fluctuations, governments should work with pulses trade members to develop predictable and transparent policies that reduce trade risks.

“I would also call on the various national associations to remain committed to the call for free and transparent trade policies in this atmosphere of tariffs and other trade barriers. We all have a role to play in driving growth in our industry,” said GPC’s Iyengar.