The Hindu Business Line : Pulses zoom on sowing data

Chennai, July 13 For all those who relish the South Indian sambar and paruppu sadam or paruppu annam, troubled times are ahead. Prices of tur or arhar dal, a main ingredient of these dishes, are soaring. On Monday, tur dal was quoted at Rs 85 a kg in retail shops in Chennai for the superior variety.

In Mumbai wholesale market, it was quoted at Rs 80 a kg, while wholesale deals for Diwali have been done at Rs 95 a kg.

The issue does not end with tur dal. Moong and urad or black matpe prices are soaring too.

On Monday, urad dal in Hyderabad market increased to Rs 5,500 a quintal from Rs 4,825 on Saturday. Moong dal was up at Rs 5,250 from Rs 5,150.

The trade is attributing Monday’s rise to the sowing data released by the Union Agriculture Ministry on Friday. It showed the area under tur down to 4.02 lakh hectares (lh) during June 1-10 from 7.20 lh during the same period a year ago. Moong coverage is down to 4.72 lh (10.09 lh) and that of urad to 1.68 lh (5.49 lh). The coverage is lower due to deficient monsoon.

“Prices are up because the chances of urad and moong coverage rising are bleak. Tur sowing, too, has to be completed by July 15,” trade sources said. “What is leading to the flare-up is the advisory of the Maharashtra Government to farmers to desist from sowing urad and moong,” they said.

Maharashtra, a rain-deficient State, is the main growing area for these pulses, especially tur, during kharif. Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are other prime areas where pulses are grown.

Limited stocks

“Little stocks of tur are left even with farmers. No cargo is available from Myanmar, which is India’s main supplier of urad and tur,” said a Chennai-based importer. Myanmar has about 50,000 tonnes stocks, but traders in Singapore are not ready to buy.

“Singapore traders are not ready to buy for our importers because there is no guarantee that sellers will honour the contracts in such a bullish market. Currently, tur is quoted at $1,200 (Rs 60,000) a tonne, c&f Chennai,” another importer said.

Tur may be available from Tanzania from October, but that is quoted currently at the same price. The kharif pulses crop is expected to arrive in the market around November. Until then, the meagre stocks in the country will have to be managed, said sources.

However, importers say the Centre could help bring the price down. “Its agencies such as Nafed have imported stocks of around 12,000 tonnes. Why isn’t the Government thinking of offloading them?,” they ask.

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