The Government officials are in denial about shortage of pulses specifically Toor Dal in India. Food and Public Distribution Minister Mr Ram Vilas Paswan last week stated that, “India has no shortage of pulses and the government has been monitoring the prices. Currently there are buffer stocks of 14 lakh tonnes of pulses .”
Increasing Tur Dal Prices
On May 15th 2019, Tur Dal prices crossed the MSP level of INR 5675 Per Quintal and are currently selling in the region of INR 7900 Per Quintal. Prices of Urad and Yellow Peas are on upward trend as well. Expect NAFED to sell 2.72 lakh tonnes of Tur Dal stocked by them to control the price rise.
Low Production Toor Dal
According to estimates, production of Toor this crop harvest season stood at 3.68 million tonnes, down from 4.02 million tonnes. Currently, India has allowed import of two lakh tonnes of Tur Dal and one and a half lakhs of yellow peas, moong dal and urad dal each. Tur Dal prices have been consistent for the past two years after witnessing aggressive increase back in 2016.
The current supplies in the market are very low due to low harvest this year. In addition, global production of Tur Dal is low compared to 2018. Additional quota of import of Pulses is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Experts in the trade are expecting possibility of over half a million tonnes of additional quota out of which 70% will be for Tur Dal only.
Monsoon Expectation
Government strategy on import of pulses will further depend on the Monsoon this year. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) have already predicted weak, delayed and uneven monsoon this year. Uneven monsoon expectation in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will further force the government to release additional quota for import of pulses sooner.
Major Imports of Pulses
Tur Dal from East African region of Countries: Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania
Urad Dal from Myanmar and Australia
Yellow Peas from Ukraine, Canada and Russia.