New Delhi: In this crisis of Corona, the problems of the common man are increasing. On the one hand, the prices of vegetables have continued to rise for the last two months. At the same time, pulses price in India has also started increasing. In many big cities including Delhi, the price of pulses has increased by 15 to 20 rupees. Last year, the price of gram dal was Rs 70-80 per kg, but this time it has crossed Rs 100. Arhar dal is being sold for Rs 115 per kg. Traders have demanded that the government agency National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) should release its stock to increase supply. Supply has fallen. Whereas, the demand is continuously increasing. Therefore, traders have demanded the issuance of import quota for 2020-21. However, the government believes that the supply situation is good, and in the next three months the Kharif season crop will start coming to the market. Bumper yields are expected this year.
Recently, Agriculture Commissioner SK Malhotra had told in a webinar organized by the Indian Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) that India expects the total production of pulses in the kharif season to be 93 lakh tonnes. The production of pigeon pea is expected to increase to 40 lakh tonne this year as compared to 38.3 lakh tonne last year.
Why pulses are getting expensive
Traders say that during the lockdown, prices of tur rose by Rs 90 per kg, which later fell to Rs 82 per kg. However, now the price has started climbing again. Due to the festive season, the demand for pulses has increased.
Traders fear that the arhar crop in Karnataka will suffer due to excessive rains. There can be a loss of 10% in yield. It is expected that till the new crop comes, prices will remain strong.
Pulses importers have demanded release of import quota for tur for 2010-21. In April, the government announced an import quota of 4 lakh tonnes of tur, which has not been allocated yet. Out of this, 2 lakh tons of tur were to come from Mozambique.
The import quota should have been issued now so that imports can be made. There is less availability of tur in the world markets, because after the increase in domestic tur in India, international farmers have shifted from tur to other crops.
