Govt active to maintain high supply of pulses in the country: Chickpea prices rose from the bottom

- Bhoo Bazar - Dilip Shah

- Orders issued from Delhi to speedily clear consignments of imported pulses arriving at various ports!

Trends in various pulses markets and industries in the country have recently seen a rapid reversal. Recently, after widespread heat in the country, unseasonal rains have been observed in various producing states, increasing the market prices. The increase in vegetable prices also had a positive effect on the pulses-dal market. Before this, due to rising inflation, the government conducted investigations and raids on the hoarders of pulses and agricultural products. The Secretary of the Consumer Affairs Department also warned the traders of pulses and pulses market on this issue. The warning came amid indications from the government that some importers were hoarding the tuwer after it was imported from Myanmar instead of dumping it in the market. The government is trying hard to maintain the supply of pulses in the country. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India had recently given special directions to the Regional Directors and Authorized Officers to clear consignments of imported pulses quickly. Sources of the market said that this direction has been given by FSSAI so that the imported pulses landed at the ports of the country come to the market as soon as possible. Authorized officers have also been told to issue provisional no-objection certificates immediately after visual inspection of imported goods. For this, such officers have been directed not to wait for the analysis report prepared by the laboratory and to issue a provisional no-objection certificate immediately. Such officers have been told to issue a provisional no-objection certificate immediately if they are satisfied in the visual inspection and then issue a final no-objection certificate after the analysis report of the laboratory.

Recently, the import of urad and tuvar has increased in the country. The period of such free import has been extended till March-2024. Customs duty has also been relaxed. Despite the recent widespread earthquakes in Turkey, pulses are still in supply. The demand for pulses in India has increased, but the domestic production has not increased to such an extent and in such a situation, reliance on imports continues. The total production of various pulses in India in 2021-22 is around 266 to 267 lakh tonnes. Although the production of pulses per hectare in the country is very low as compared to the global level, if such production per hectare is increased at home, then the annual production of pulses in the country can be obtained more than this. Meanwhile, chickpea prices have come under pressure in the country's pulses market recently. In many mandis, the price of gram fell and support prices were also seen to fall. New gram receipts are gaining momentum in Madhya-Pradesh. Although NAFED over-selling has been stopped recently after the prices fell due to NAFED release of chickpeas in the market, there is also hope of increase in government purchases of chickpeas due to low heading. Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh Vs. There are reports of such government purchases in the states. The government has fixed the support price of gram for the crop year 2023-24 at Rs.5335 per kg. Market prices in Karnataka and Madhya-Pradesh were seen below this support price recently. Recently, market prices of chickpeas have also received signs of recovery from the low head. And due to the low price, the market has increased significantly. The stock on hand with Nafed is estimated to be around 8 to 10 lakh tonnes. The annual production of gram in the country is around 136 lakh tonnes on an average.