Low rains, less sowing fuel price rise in pulses

The kharif season contributes around 30% of India's total annual output of pulses

Uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall, after a month of delay, has started affecting kharif crops, with the price of pulses up 11 per cent so far this month.

Data from the Union ministry of food showed the price of moong dal in the wholesale Delhi market was Rs 80 a kg on Wednesday, compared with Rs 70 a kg on July 1. Urad dal was Rs 70 a kg from Rs 64 a kg in the period. Chana dal in the retail Delhi market was Rs 45.50 a kg on Wednesday from Rs 38 a kg on July 1.

It is likely that with the rise in prices of vegetables, fruits and pulses in the wake of the monsoon’s unsteadiness, the inflation data for July would differ substantially from June’s pre-monsoon easing.

“The delay in monsoon rainfall affected sowing of pulses, with farmers’ migration to other crops, including cotton and soybean,” said Pravin Dongre, president of India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA).

According to the ministry of agriculture, the area under pulses declined this season to 0.75 million hectares as of July 4. The kharif season contributes around 30 per cent of India’s total annual production of pulses. The ministry had set an ambitious target of seven million tonnes of production this kharif, of a total annual output estimate of 19.5 mt for 2014-15. Rainfall has been deficient by 41 per cent so far this season.

“Pulses are sown until mid-August in India. So, the time has not lapsed for sowing. But, historically, the yield has been severely impacted in case of deficient or uneven distribution of rainfall, as witnessed in 2009,” said Dongre, also chief executive officer of the India wing of multinational grain trader Glencore International.

While some parts of the western states have had heavy downpour in the past few days, other regions have remained dry, including major pulses’ growing areas in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

“There was (also) some delay in shipment of yellow peas from Canada, as rakes were not available there to transport the commodity from farm to port,” said Bimal Kothari, vice-president of IPGA and owner of Pancham International, a city-based pulses trader. India imports around a million tonnes of yellow peas annually, from Canada, Australia and elsewhere.