Pulses

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.

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.

Wholesale prices of just harvested kharif pulses have dropped below the government’s minimum support prices (MSP) despite a lower crop output, forcing farmers to sell their produce at a loss in states such as Rajasthan. The prices are lower despite a 7.5% drop in estimated production of kharif pulses in 2017-18 (year-on-year) as ample stocks are available from the previous (2016-17) crop season.

India is likely to sell about 1 million tonnes of pulses domestically to avoid its stockpiles rotting in warehouses. The government is attempting to sell the reserves in the open market and to some states and organizations such as railways and defence forces.

Canadian farmers turn to pulse crops to satisfy India.

Canadian farmers intend to plant more peas and lentils than ever before, as strong Indian demand stokes interest in pulse crops, according to a Reuters industry poll ahead of a government report. Pulses amount for a fraction of Canada’s planted area compared to wheat and canola. But this year they have been the talk of the western Prairies as farmers made seeding plans. Back-to-back droughts in India, the world’s largest importer of edible oils and pulses, has boosted prices and made pulses attractive to Canadian farmers. Pulses are an important protein source in the Indian diet.

India govt to offload 700,000 MT pulses from 1.8 MMT buffer stock.

The government is likely to offload 700,000 tn pulses from its buffer stock in the coming days, of which 350,000 tn will be sold to state governments and rest is expected to be sold through open market sales scheme. Out of the 1.8 MMT buffer stock of pulses, government will sell 350,000 MT to these three (Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu) states and (another) around 350,000 tn through open market sales scheme

Pulses import at Tuticorin port down 59% on month at 20,324 tn Aug.

Import of pulses at Tuticorin port more than halved on month to 20,324 tn in August. The sharp decline in the reporting month comes after the government capped imports of some pulses such as urad, tur and moong. The government restricted annual import of urad and moong to 300,000 tn each, while the limit for tur was set at 200,000 tn. A fall in imports of peas and moong also contributed to the overall decline in shipments into India.

Chhattisgarh has set a pulses production target of 740,360 tonne for the 2017-18 (Jul-Jun) rabi season, up 8% from the previous year, due to expectations higher acreage. The government is encouraging farmers to bring more area under the crop by increasing minimum support price on key pulses this season. The targeted area under rabi pulses has been set at 910,000 ha, against 869,940 ha last year. Sowing of pulses this season is seen higher because the crop requires less water.

Maharashtra farmers are forced to sell their crops below Minimum Support Price (MSP) mainly due to the late monsoon showers which caused some damage to the pulses since the government has not yet started the purchase at MSP. Maharashtra government has requested the center for the procurement of Moong and Urad under MSP as soon as possible the center delays to take a decision the state have to find a way to control the situation. The state has asked the farmers to utilize the state Commodity Mortgage Scheme, where farmers can store their produce and they provided with a warehouse receipt at an interest and can sell their produce when the price gets better.

Procurement should commence in the next 7-8 days. The MSP of moong is Rs 5,575 per quintal while market prices are currently at a minimum of Rs 4,200-4,300 and maximum of Rs 5,200-5,300.

Saddled with a buffer stock of 18 lakh tonnes of pulses. The government is trying to dispose of the dals and asked entities, including cooperative NCCF, to do the needful. For the first time, the government had last year decided to create a buffer stock of pulses to ensure better prices to farmers and at the same time use the stock to augment local supply in times of price rise. About 20 lakh tonnes of buffer were created through local procurement and imports.

The Centre may have lifted its more than a decade-long ban on export of pulses, but shipments from India take time to start as the domestic produce is out-priced in the global market. There is no parity (in prices) to export pulses currently, particularly in tur as (the) Burmese origin is much cheaper than local rates and Indian exporters can export only after 7-8 months. Tur from Burma is being sold at 2,500 rupees per 100 kg compared with the domestic prices of 4,000 rupees. In the global market, Burmese tur is being sold for $450 per tonne, while urad of the same origin fetches $625 per tonne, cost and freight basis. Moong from Tanzania is priced at $600 per tonne.

A total of 76 centres for procurement of moong opened in the state. Similarly, 28 centres for urad, 29 for peanuts and 25 for soybean opened. More procurement centres can be opened considering the interests of farmers and demand of people’s representatives. The move was taken considering the interest of farmers in the state so that they get right price for pulses and oilseed crops. Union government has fixed support price of Rs 5,575 per quintal for moong, which includes bonus of Rs 200. The support price of urad has been announced Rs 5,400 including Rs 200 bonus and Rs 4,450 for groundnut including Rs 200 bonus and Rs 3050 per quintal including bonus for soybean.

As against the national trend, the kharif sowing in Gujarat has shown remarkable growth in pulses sowing with up to about 44 per cent rise in different varieties of pulses. The area under moth beans increase the most by close to 45 per cent to 27,100 hectares as on September 12 as against the three-year average of 18,800 hectares. Other pulses varieties such as moong (green gram), urad and tur witnessed higher acreage by 13-16 per cent. The overall total area under kharif pulses reported an increase of about 8 per cent to 5,60,300 hectares as against 3-year average of 5,21,000 hectares.

The government lifted the ban on exports of tur dal, urad, and moong with immediate effect. The export of these pulses allowed only after registration of contracts with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. The move came in the wake of industry demand to support the falling prices in key markets of the country. Prices of most of the pulses hovered near and mostly below the minimum support levels in the country. The government had earlier capped the import of pulses to boost the domestic prices. The government had capped import of tur at 200,000 tonne per annum and urad and moong at 300,000 tonne each per year.

The General Council of National Food Security Mission decided to allocate funds for cultivation of pulses and oilseeds, in those areas of West Bengal, where the wheat crop was affected by blast disease during the 2016-17 rabi season. Growers in the region had burnt the affected crop that was over 1,000 ha in the state. Among other decisions the council also decided to allocate additional funds to encourage pulses cultivation in rice fallow areas of east India. In 2016-17, the number of districts in the country growing pulses was 638, across 29 states, up from 468 districts in 16 states in 2012-13.

Rising prices of pulses ahead of Navarathri celebrations have hit the household budget of residents. Surprisingly, in a contrast to the usual scenario, prices of vegetables have decreased to about 20 per cent when compared to the previous month. The prices of Bengal gram, black gram and lentil gram have increased in the month of September, due to the rise in the demand. However, prices of the green gram and moong dhal remain the same.