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As tur prices have dropped below the minimum support price (MSP) levels at the start of harvest season, farmers in Karnataka have sought the Prime Minister’s intervention urging the government to reconsider the decision on allowing imports without any restrictions or place curbs on the import volume to safeguard the growers’ interest.
The Government had recently extended the free imports of pulses such as tur, urad and moong, which could be brought into the country till June 2022.
No volume curbs
The Karnataka Pradesh Red Gram Growers Association has written to the Prime Minister to reconsider the import of pulses, especially tur/arhar/red gram, during the current crop year.
“We apprehend permitting import of pulses under free category may be harmful to the interest of the farmers. The pulses seeds market especially tur is going to fall down and farmers will be put into hardships in their income,” said Basavaraj Ingin, President, The Karnataka Pradesh Red Gram Growers Association, said in a letter to the Prime Minister.
“Taking into consideration the previous history of market trend in distortion of prices, we earnestly appeal to your good self to kindly advise the Ministry of Commerce and Agriculture and also the concerned who permitted the imports to reconsider the decision and if need be put quantitative restrictions to the extent of likely shortfall with the time limit up to March 31, 2022, in the interest of safeguarding the farmers income,” Ingin said in the letter.
Prices dip
Arrivals of the tur crop, grown in the Kharif season, has started from mid-December in Karnataka and Maharashtra among others. Modal prices across various markets are trading between ₹4,500 and ₹6,000 per quintal, lower than the minimum support price of ₹6,300 per quintal.
The excess rains during monsoon and post-monsoon period had damaged the crop in Karnataka and other States. The trade has estimated the crop damage at around 20 per cent.
Tur was planted on over 50 lakh hectares this year and according to the first advance estimates for the 2021-22 season, the Government had pegged the tur crop size at 4.43 million tonnes, higher than the previous year’s 4.28 million tonnes.
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