Arrivals of tur (red gram, arhar or pigeon pea) in agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC) yards in key producing States of Karnataka and Maharashtra have witnessed a drop in early January. As a result, prices are ruling higher over the same period a year ago on fears of a likely decline in production due to excessive rains and the crop being affected by wilt disease. The trade believes the overall tur crop size for the 2022 kharif cropping season could be much lower than the government’s first advance estimates of 38.9 lakh tonnes(lt).
Considering the anticipated shortfall, the Centre recently extended the window for duty-free imports of tur and urad till March 31, 2024.
Currently, the harvest of tur is on in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The modal price, or the rate at which most trades take place, of tur is higher by about ₹1,000-1,200 per quintal over the same a year ago across these States and is hovering above the minimum support price (MSP) of ₹6,600 per quintal. As against a modal price of ₹5,700-6,300 during the first half of January 2022 in key markets such as Gulbarga of Karnataka and Latur in Maharasthra, tur is currently trading between ₹6,900-7,400 in these markets.
“Except tur and urad, most of the pulses are selling below MSP. Urad is around MSP levels and tur is a little bit higher than MSP. There’s definitely some concern as far as tur is concerned. The government has allowed duty-free import of tur and urad till March 31, 2024,” Bimal Kothari, Chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association.
Urad stable
Kothari said Myanmar is having a good crop of tur and production is expected to be about 3.5 lt. Also, the Myanmar urad crop is expected to be 7-7.5 lt. “We don’t foresee any major issue with urad as we also have a rabi crop. Though the rabi urad crop is smaller than kharif, it is also of significant quantity. I really don’t see any spurt in the prices for at least the next 2-3 months. Tur will remain a concern for some time as the next crop will come from Africa in July-August. Myanmar tur is being harvested now and Africa will come in August -September,” he said.
“Due to the low crop size, tur prices are increasing. With crop damage reported in Karnataka and Maharashtra, the production can decline to to 32 lt,” said Rahul Chauhan, of IGrain India.
Santosh Langar, a pulses miller and trader in Gulbarga said prices are ranging between ₹ 7,000 and ₹7,400 per quintal and are unlikely to come down from the current levels as the trade pipeline is empty and the crop is lower.