India’s pulses imports rose 9.44 percent to about 2,699 million tonnes (mt) during the financial year 2021-22 over 2,466 mt in 2020-21 on lower domestic output and the Government’s decision to keep imports open to ensure adequate supplies.
As per the DGCIS data, the imports rose by around 39 percent in value terms to (about $2,22 billion) during 2021-22 over ($1,61 billion) the previous year.
The trade expects total pulses imports to remain around the levels of 2,5-2,6 mt in the current financial year with the import window being kept open till March next year.
Crop damage fears
During 2021-22, imports of Pigeon peas, Black gram and mung bean registered a sharp increase. Pigeon peas imports stood at around 0,84 mt (0,442 mt), while Black gram imports jumped to 0,611 mt (0,344 mt). Imports of moong beans more than doubled to 0,195 mt (0,81 mt), while imports of lentils declined.
“It is a marginal increase as more imports were allowed for Pigeon peas, Black gram and mung bean. Our imports will be in the range of 2,5-2,6 million tonnes for the current year,” said Bimal Kothari, Chairman, Indian Pulses and Grains Association, the apex trade body. The Government’s decision to allow imports during May-June last year on apprehensions of crop damage resulted in a higher inflow of the pulses ensuring adequate supplies.
Kothari said pulses prices are under control, and most of the pulses are ruling around or below the minimum support price levels. “Prices of pulses is no longer an issue for the Government, unlike edible oils, where there’s a concern,” he said.
Trend to sustain
Rahul Chauhan of I Grain India expects the trend in pulses imports to be sustained this financial year as the Government has kept the imports open. Imports of pulses like mung bean will depend on how the crop shapes up in Canada, where the sowing is almost complete. The strengthening of the dollar may impact the import parity, he said.
B Krishnamurthy, Managing Director, Four P International, said the imports of Black gram would have gone down during March-June due to the currency issue in Myanmar and the domestic rates at par on higher supplies. With the decline in the rupee against the dollar, there’s not much of an incentive for the medium to smaller players to import compared to the large companies, he said.
Higher MSP
Further, Krishnamurthy said there’s some speculation that pulses growers are likely to shift to alternative crops such as corn, cotton, sugarcane and soybean, which are attractive. “We need to watch the situation. With the increase in MSP, the overall pulses production is likely to be retained, provided the rain gods are smiling,” he said.
The Centre has increased the MSP for Pigeon peas and Black gram by $ 3,84 kg each to $84,56 for the current kharif season, while the support price for mung bean has been hiked to $99,36 from $ 93,21 last season.
The Government has set the kharif pulses production target of 10,55 million tonnes against the previous year’s 8,25 million tonnes (third advance estimates)
With the onset of monsoon, the sowing of pulses like mung bean and Pigeon peas has begun in states such as Karnataka. The modal price (rates at which most trades take place) of Pigeon peas range between $ 73,03 and $ 78,15 in various markets of Maharashtra and Karnataka, much below the MSP levels. Prices of mung bean are ruling around $0,77 per kg levels, below the support price, while Black gram prices are hovering around $76,87-79,44 levels in Madhya Pradesh, lower than MSP.
Source: The Hindu Business Line