Ram Gopal Yadav

The import of pulses at Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva port in September increased 6.3% on year to 125,603 metric tonne. The imports of chana and urad surged this year to 79,667 metric tonne and 14,784 metric tonne, respectively. The chana imports in September were largely from Australia, one of the leading exporters of the pulse to India. Tur imports declined and that of urad and moong increased last month despite restrictions imposed by the government.

Food and Consumers Affairs ministry is likely to seek Cabinet approval for the disposal of pulses from buffer stock to other ministries at prices higher than the market rate. A direct communication with other ministries has so far not yielded any result because even at subsidized rates, pulses from the buffer stock are expensive than the market price. If the Cabinet approves the proposal, the ministries and their public sector undertakings would have to buy pulses from the food ministry. The food ministry has written to different ministries asking them to purchase pulses from the buffer stock at subsidised rates but they have shown no interest.

Enthused by the positive outcome of delisting fruits and vegetables from the ambit of Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act, 1963, Maharashtra has proposed allowing direct marketing of pulses and oilseeds as well. The state government has appointed a committee to study the pros and cons of delisting pulses and oilseeds and asked it to submit a report in three months. Delisting pulses and oilseeds from the APMC Act likely ensure remunerative prices for farmers. However, with the delisting, farmers are free to sell their produce to anyone in the country who offers competitive prices. Keeping pulses and oilseeds out of the ambit of APMC Act may help shore up domestic prices of these commodities that have slipped below the minimum support price in many places.