Nafed started selling gram during festivals as the price of gram rose

- Bhoo Bazar : Dilip Shah

- Opinions on chickpea crop estimate: Govt estimate high while traders fear low crop!

The tides in the country's agriculture sector have recently seen a reversal. As the domestic demand is high against the production of various pulses in India, the country has to depend on the import of various pulses. Recently, wheat, rice, tomato, onion Vs. After the price of commodities has gone up, now the prices of pulses have been seen going up in the pulses market as well. After the recent increase in the prices of Tuvar and Tuvardal, there was a concern in the government as the prices of Udd and Udddal and Chana and Chandal also increased and the prices went up around the festivals. The prices of chickpeas started increasing in the country's pulses market from the beginning of July. However, according to government sources, the production of chickpeas has increased significantly in the country and even though the crop of chickpeas has increased to around 135 to 136 lakh tonnes, there has been a surprise as the market price has gone up.

According to sources in the pulses market, market prices of chickpeas were below the support price in the period up to the end of June, after which the trends were seen to reverse rapidly. The government had earlier fixed the minimum support price of gram at Rs.5335 per kilo. According to sources in the Indore market in Madhya Pradesh, gram prices in the market till the end of June were Rs. It was around Rs.4780 to Rs.4790 per quintal, then saw a rapid rise and in the first week of August, the price was seen trading in the high range of Rs.7760 to 7770. However, in the subsequent period, the market prices remained on the decline from high, said the sources of India Pulses and Grains Association. According to market insiders, the demand pressure in chickpea increased as the prices of Tuvar and Udd increased. In gram, the government has set a high crop estimate, but seeing the way the market prices have gone up, the gram crop actually appears to be lower than the government's estimate, some sources in the market also said. Meanwhile, during the rabi crop season in 2022-23, the government procured around 23 to 24 lakh tonnes of gram through NAFED. The carry over stock with NAFED was around 14 lakh tonnes. Corporate companies as well as private stockists reduced the purchase of gram during the period when goods were being taken by NAFED. Mills also found gram stock less than expected and in such circumstances, gram prices saw a rapid rise in short-term due to demand. However, NAFED started selling gram in various centers of the country. According to the sources of All India Flour Millers Association Indore, compared to the estimate of gram production released by the government, the actual production seems to be less. According to the government's estimate, gram production is likely to be 135 to 136 lakh tonnes, while according to business circles and some sources in the market, in fact, the production of gram is likely to be within 100 lakh tonnes! Some classes are even showing the estimate of such production at 90 to 95 lakh tons! Meanwhile, directions were received that NAFED has started the process of selling gram.

Meanwhile, according to world market sources, the total global demand for various pulses has been increasing by around five per cent year-on-year. Estimates show that in the next ten years, the global demand for various pulses will continue to increase to reach 122,800 to 122,900 million dollars annually. Efforts are being made to increase the production of pulses in India and in various countries of the world. After the corona period, with increasing seriousness for health, there has been a special increase in the demand of pulses at the global level and in India. A significant increase in such demand has been seen especially in China and India. In America, such demand growth is estimated to be 3.70 percent annually. For India, such a percentage has been calculated as 6.40 percent. As the price of dollar rose above Rs.83 in the currency market, the import cost of various pulses imported into the country has also increased.