Page 4 - Pulses

Government buying of pulses falls 86% short of target

Nafed blames buffer limit and price fall for poor performance

Price-sensitive farmers replacing pulses with cotton

Early onset of the monsoon and its progress has led to an increase in the area sown till Friday of this kharif season, year-on-year. Alongside, the depressed price of pulses have led more farmers to replace it with cotton in some parts. Farmers have brought almost 10 per cent more area under cultivation over the corresponding period of the previous kharif season, despite the current unrest in the community.The southwest monsoon advanced further into the central portion of Maharashtra, Vidarbha, more parts of Chhattisgarh, most of Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar this week, according to India Meteorological Department. Showers remain deficient in the central part of India, including in Madhya Pradesh.The area sown with pulses had declined 35 per cent by Friday of this kharif season over the corresponding period last year. Pulses and related products saw a price fall of 19.5 per cent in May, in terms of the consumer price index. A higher minimum support price (MSP) announced by .

Initial pulses' sowing takes a beating as farmers protest price fall

Growing farmers anger against falling price of their produce mainly pulses and vegetables seems to have hit initial sowing of the former with the crop being planted in around 39 per cent lesser area than last year as on June 16.Though, full-fledged sowing is yet to take place and will gather steam as and when southwest monsoon reaches the rainfed areas of Central, Northern and western India, but the initial signals are not very encouraging. Competing crop cotton seems to have gained with its area increasing by 36 per cent till June 16 as compared to the same period last year."All this talk of monsoon getting delayed over Central India is wrong as a mere delay of 3-4 days won't impact sowing. Moreover, from start to finish monsoon should cover the entire country in 45 days which is where it is as of now. Therefore, no cause to worry," Director General of India Meteorological Department (IMD), K J Ramesh told Business Standard.He said that in as of now in North-East India, the monsoon ..

Govt plans to enhance pulses milling capacity

India has about 10,000 pulses mills, with each having production capacity of 10-20 tonnes a day

Pulses demand policy change

Last year's robust output of 22.14 million tonnes may be difficult to sustain

Centre nears pulses buffer stock target

Disposal remains a challenge as rates have fallen below purchase price due to bumper harvest

RSS body wants govt to impose 30% import duty on pulses

Swadeshi Jagran Manch said unless govt imposes customs duty on pulses, the situation may turn worse

Raise minimum support price for pulses, says CACP

The central government might increase its Minimum Support Price (MSP) for tur (red gram) and moong dal (green gram) by Rs 200 and Rs 475 a quintal, respectively, for the 2017-18 kharif season, if it agrees with recommendations made by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).Officials said the government normally accepts these. The ministry of agriculture would examine the proposals and then send it to the Cabinet. Kharif sowing starts around July and crops are harvested from October. In percentage terms, these would be increases of around four and nine per cent for tur and moong, respectively to Rs 5,250 a qtl and Rs 5,700 a qtl. There could be an additional bonus to incentivise production. Officials said among other kharif crops, CACP had recommended an Rs 80 a qtl (six per cent) hike in the MSP of both the common grade and A-grade paddy, to Rs 1,550 and Rs 1,590 a qtl, respectively. For maize, a rise to Rs 1,390 a qtl, from the current Rs 1,330 a qtl.Among ...

Finance ministry for detailed policy on pulses buying

The finance ministry has asked the NITI Aayog and the department of consumer affairs to frame a comprehensive pricing policy for liquidation of its over 500,000-tonne buffer stock of pulses. That apart, it has also been decided by a Price Stabilization Fund Committee to continue procurement of tur or arhar (split red gram) till April 15 in view of a bumper harvest. That for urad (black gram) and moong (green gram) won't be continued, except in areas where purchase coupons have already been issued to farmers. The government has also decided to start purchasing chana (chickpeas) and masur (red lentils) till July.Till date, the government has purchased a little over a million tonnes (mt) of pulses from farmers, of which about 600,000 tonnes is from domestic procurement; the rest is through import. The plan is for a buffer stock of two mt, for use to keep a lid on prices when there is a shortage.The government has also decided to dispose of nearly 100,000 tonnes from its buffer as a ...

Govt considers raising import duty on pulses

The Union agriculture ministry is considering whether to, after a long while, raise the import duty on pulses. Bumper output this season has led to a slide in prices.A large part of annual demand is met by import, as domestic output has never sufficed. Since January, the estimated import is 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes.A recent meeting of central ministers on a related issue saw a suggestion to raise the import duty, to bolster prices for farmers, to avoid an adverse impact on sowing for the next kharif. Sources say it was decided the agriculture ministry would discuss this with other ministries and departments. Pulses' importers say they have yet to be consulted. Earlier, they'd suggested more flexible stock limits, tightened when prices were rising. Now, however, it appears most of the pulses grown in the kharif are trading below their respective minimum support prices (MSPs) at several wholesale markets across the country. "The government should not look at a short-term measure for ...

Govt mulls extending fumigation exemption for Canadian pulses

The government will consider extending the exemption given to traders for fumigating pulses imported from Canada at Indian ports instead of the country of origin.India has made it mandatory to fumigate imported crops with methyl bromide, a restricted use pesticide, in the country of origin.However, the government has been giving exemption to traders importing pulses from Canada -- the world's largest pulses exporter -- which has banned the use of the fumigant on environmental grounds. The current exemption is valid till March 31, 2017."The issue is under active consideration. We may consider continuing exemption (to Canada) after looking into our production and import data," a senior Agriculture Ministry official told PTI.Trade bodies have made several representation on this issue. A meeting will be held next week to take a final call, the official added.The official said that the exemption may be continued for only short period as the country is taking steps to protect ...

Five-year map to raise pulses output

Centre wants to raise pulses output to 24 million tonnes by 2020-2021

Record yield has pulses prices slide below MSP

Trade wants stock limits lifted as prices of most varieties trading below MSP

India might be self-sufficient in pulses in 2-3 years: Radha Mohan Singh

India produced about 16.5 million tonnes of pulses in 2015-16 crop year (July-June)

Govt creates pulses buffer stock of one million tonnes so far

Buffer stock of pulses would be used to intervene in the market in case of price rise

Govt nod for professional agency to manage pulses buffer stock

Adequate capacity of storage of pulses is available with the Central Warehousing Corporation

Madhya Pradesh aims to raise pulse output by 60%

In the FY16, Govt imported a record 5.8 mt of pulses after domestic prices more than doubled

MP aims to raise pulse output to help India reach self-sufficiency goal

Due to shortage of the protein-rich food, India has to fork out about $2.65 bn a year on import

C S C Sekhar: Pulses sector heading for a crisis

A procurement mechanism needs to be put in place to avert misery for farmers

Creating separate agency to manage pulses buffer not feasible: CACP Chief

Interview with Vijay Paul Sharma, chairman of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices