Drop in pulses prices despite good rains reveals India's flawed agri policy

The drop comes despite a good monsoon in 2016

A good monsoon that led to record sowing and production of pulses–especially tur dal (pigeon pea)–has almost halved their wholesale and retail prices in 2017, a year after dal prices skyrocketed to Rs 200 per kg in some cities at the end of 2015.

In many state-regulated agricultural markets of major tur-producing states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka, prices have fallen to Rs 4,000 per quintal in some markets, 20% below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,050 per