The profit margin of pulses farmers fell 16 per cent on average in 2016-17 due to record production. If gram is excluded, margins have fallen by 30 per cent. While the selling price of pulses fell, the cost of cultivation continued to rise. Cost of cultivation increased 3.7 per cent year-on-year in agriculture year (July to June) 2016-17, compared with 2.8 per cent in the previous year and hence increase in MSPs did little to stem the fall in their earnings. Fall in farmers’ income is due to a record production of 22.95 million tonnes of pulses in 2016-17, up 40 per cent over the previous year and 19 per cent higher than the previous record of 19 million tonnes in 2013-14.