This paper has documented the difficulties faced by farmers due to demonetization, facilities existing for making digital payments and farmers’ opinion about it. The study has used primary data collected through farm survey done in October 2017, almost a year after demonetization. The survey was made in three adopted villages under MGMG (Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav) scheme in Palwal district of Haryana. Results have shown that due to demonetization farmers faced numerous difficulties (both crop production and family related activities). They could not use quality inputs (particularly seeds of wheat) in desired quantity, got delayed payment of their crop produce and faced problems in drawing money from bank. Family and societal needs were also affected. Payment in cash was the main mode of transactions (and even now) for food and non-food articles. Analysis revealed that large number of farmers have bank account and are availing facilities of debit cum ATM card, but their functional literacy and infrastructure are inadequate. Farmers’ expressed both merits and demerits about digital payments. Nevertheless, without removing fear of farmers and other rural people and bringing change in their attitude, moving towards digital mode of transactions will not trigger desired results.

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Pulses are complementary to cereals both in production as well as in consumption. During the production process, pulses help in improving sustainability by (i) fixing the atmospheric nitrogen into the soil (ii) consuming less water and (iii) controlling diseases and pests. On consumption front, pulses reduce malnutrition and improve human health being a rich and most viable source of protein for vegetarians and poor people. Realizing the importance of pulses, the government of India announces various schemes and programs from time to time to promote the cultivation of pulses in the country. However, pulse production in India has not achieved the targeted level. The paper analyses the production trend of pulses over the last decade and identifies the gap between the targets and achievements. Plot level data from cost of cultivation scheme across major pulses growing states has been used to estimate technical efficiencies of the pulses using data envelopment analysis. The paper also highlights the yield gap of the pulses across major pulse growing states and suggests suitable measures for improving farm level profitability and sustainability by increasing technical efficiency. The study postulated the hypothesis that technical efficiency of the pulses is low and the yield potential of the pulses are not fully harnessed. The results revealed that increase of technical efficiency by 1% will reduce the yield gap by 9 kg per ha and increase total pulse production of the country by 225 thousand tons.