Tur dal prices set to rise 10-15% in select markets

Major producing states have reported 30-40 per cent decline in production due to drought in 2012 kharif season

Tur dal (redgram) prices are set to rise by 10-15 per cent to Rs 45,000-50,000 per tonne in select wholesale markets across the country in the coming quarter. The rise in prices is expected because of a lower crop this year after a drought in major producing states.

Producing states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have reported 30-40 per cent decline in tur dal production in kharif 2012. The decline in production was largely due to drought and late sowing in these states, according to data gathered from various sources.

The prices of tur dal, which were ruling in the range of Rs 3,000- 3,200 per tonne last year, have since shot up 30-35 per cent. Every day, since the beginning of the season in December, the market has been witnessing increase in the prices of red gram.

Starting off at around Rs 37,000 per tonne at the beginning of the season, tur dal prices rose to Rs 42,000 per tonne last week. The rise was aided by the market intervention scheme of the state government, which announced an additional support price of Rs 650 per tonne over and above the minimum support price of Rs 3,850 fixed by the Central government.

Redgram yields in the state have dropped as much as 40 per cent. Production in Gulbarga, the majority producer in Karnataka, is estimated at 180,000 tonnes this year due to drought in the kharif season of 2012. However, the state agriculture department pegs the production at 355,000 tonnes for the year.

Basavaraj Ingin, president, Karnataka Redgram Growers’ Association, expects the prices to touch Rs 50,000 per tonne in May or June this year. “Tur crop is not up to our expectations this year. Unseasonal rain and fog in the month of November had damaged the crop, which had been hit earlier by the drought,” he said.

The scene is no different in Maharashtra, the largest producer of redgram in the country. The yield has dropped 30 per cent in the state owing to drought conditions. Overall, the country’s production is estimated at 2.3 million tonnes (mt), a decline of 25 per cent over the normal production.

“The production of redgram has declined drastically in the top three producing states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to drought this year. We expect the prices to increase further in the next two to three months and cross the Rs 45,000-per tonne mark. The prices will continue to rise until imports happen in the first quarter of the next fiscal,” said Pravin Dongre, chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association.

He said private traders are looking at importing an estimated 400,000 tonnes in the next two to three months. The imports are likely to take place from Myanmar and East African countries. While some imports have already taken place, an increase is expected in the coming days, he said.

“The imports will largely happen from East Africa as even Myanmar has reported 50 per cent drop in output this year,” he said. He, however, added the outlook would remain bullish for the next three months.  K C Bharatiya, ex-president, Pulses’ Exporters Association, said traders had been requesting the government to import redgram to bring down the prices. “I strongly feel that the government should enter the market and import tur dal, so that the prices will come down,” he said.