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Informist, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024

 

By Pallavi Singhal

 

NEW DELHI – The surge in India's import of pulses, which rose 84% on year to 4.6 million tonnes in 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), was only a temporary phenomenon which happened due to climate-related issues, Nidhi Khare, secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, said. She added that these imports had actually provided "comfort, affordability and accessibility" to consumers when domestic supply fell.

 

The price of chana, a heavily consumed pulse in the country, had risen sharply last year, following which the government began to encourage the import of yellow peas, which acted as a substitute to keep pulses prices under the lid, Khare told Informist in an interview. "Yellow peas have definitely helped, because 50% of chana actually goes for commercial purposes, in the form of besan. It's used for making Mithai and other processed foods eaten across the year by people," she added.

 

The government increased yellow peas imports after output of chana saw a drastic fall last year, with production of the crop falling to 11.03 million tonnes in 2023-24, down from 13.54 million tonnes in 2021-22. The production in 2022-23 was 12.26 million tonnes. According to Khare, pulses production fell due to the El Nino effect, which exacerbates the increase in global temperatures and is associated with lower rainfall. However, as India saw a good southwest monsoon season this year, having received 8?ove normal rains at 934.8 millimetres, Khare sees a rise in chana sowing. 

 

Following are edited excerpts from the interview:     

 

Q. India's FY24 pulses imports grew 84% on year and hit a 6-year high. What is the outlook for pulses imports for FY25?
A. I see the recent surge in the import of pulses as a temporary phenomenon, which arose due to climate issues. There was a shortfall in domestic production because of very intense heat. First, there was intense heat last year and then there were excessive rains, and for the past two years we have been basically reeling under the effect of El Nino. Major pulses like chana and tur were affected. But it is a very temporary phase. This year we are looking at a very good production of both chana and tur. The farmers are looking at better price realisations.

 

But at the same time, the imports we have received, whether it is for yellow peas or for lentils (masur), have actually provided comfort, affordability and accessibility to all the consumers in our country. In that respect, I see the imports of yellow peas as a big contributor to keeping pulse prices under the lid. For the past four months now, there has been a decline in the wholesale prices of pulses, with retail (prices), too, not showing any upward movement.

 

Q. If we talk about the 4.6 million tonnes (of pulses imports) touched last year, do you see it touching the same number this year as well?

A. It will all depend on the domestic production that we have, and as I said, in chana and tur we are going to be in great comfort. So, in tur and urad we are comfortable because the sowing has also increased in terms of acreage and also more and more farmers were willing to get a very high price realisation. However, India is an aspirational country and more and more people are willing to spend on nutritious food intake, hence demand for pulses is also growing. In that sense, perhaps, we will continue to see a good and vibrant trade movement in this sector.

 

Q. Stock limits on chana and tur expired recently. Is that showing the government's confidence in declining prices?

A. Yes, absolutely. We don't want to harass anybody; in fact, we've been talking to the stockists, to the traders, to the importers, everybody on the supply chain, and we just want all to be upfront about the stocks and try not to have undue profits from the situation. I think the sector has also understood that we do not wish to use arm-twisting tactics and so on. This continuous dialogue and negotiations with different people has also boosted their confidence and trust in the government bodies, and therefore, we are going to let this lapse.

 

Q. The removal of stock limits is also seen as a move to get higher imports. Do you agree?

A. So there is a reason for comfort in imports, because when we kind of assessed the chana production in the months of Apr-May, we felt that we were a little short of the expected amount, and therefore, we gave hints to other locations, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere where winter had just started so they could plan the sowing of chana. Therefore, today we are in a much better position. Otherwise, had we not done that, we would have to wait for March and by that time, prices would have only continued to rise. Now we have chana coming from Tanzania, and a sizeable amount of chana crop coming from Australia. This whole equation has also made the traders and everybody in the market understand that they cannot take the prices to preposterous limits. So they understand there will be an availability of chana for Indian markets.

 

Q. The government has also lifted the 25% procurement ceiling for tur, urad, and masoor. Is the government looking to build a considerable buffer stock?

A. The idea is to procure when the prices go below MSP (minimum support price) and to release when the prices are very high. So, this is basically to moderate the retail prices.

 

Q. How much does the government have in its buffer stock right now?

A. We are in a good position and can intervene if needed.

 

Q. The government recently said that prices of tur and urad have fallen. Is it because of higher output prospects or policies such as duty-free imports of yellow peas?
A. Yellow peas have definitely helped by acting as a substitute. More than 50% of chana actually goes into commercial purposes, which is besan, which is used 365 days in our households and for making Mithai. So a good proportion of chana is actually there to take care of other processed food such as namkeen, which is also eaten across the year by people. With yellow peas coming in at much cheaper prices, it has given an option of substitution for besan from chana. The production in chana was very tight, and therefore, I think yellow pea imports have made a difference not just in stabilising chana prices but also in bringing down prices of other pulses by substitution.

 

There was a criticism that all these yellow peas would be of no use, but why would people import then? So it is definitely making some sense to the market, and therefore, we have now imported a very sizeable amount of yellow peas into the country. For lentils also, we are getting good amounts, which has kept prices very affordable for consumers. So the imports of both these pulses have actually made things easier for Indian consumers.

 

Q. How much yellow peas have we imported this calendar year?

A. I think we have imported more than 2.1 million tonnes of yellow peas.

 

Q. And lentils?

A. Lentils imports are at about 800,000 tonnes (so far in 2024).

 

Q. Duty-free yellow pea imports were primarily to bring down chana prices. However, as pointed out by the ministry itself, retail prices have continued to be high. Is there something else the government plans to do to bring retail prices more in line with wholesale prices?

A. We have started talking to prominent e-commerce entities who are into food commodities. I held a meeting with the Retail Association of India, where these prominent e-commerce entities were present, and they have agreed that for the festival period that starts with Navratri and so on, we would not only be pushing Bharat brand of pulses in these e-commerce entities, but will also have the cooperation from some big retail sellers. The ministry is monitoring retail prices very closely on a daily basis. Meanwhile, brands such as Reliance, V-mart have assured me that they will sell pulses at lower prices.

 

Q. Is there any timeline that the ministry has drawn for retailers bringing down these prices?

A. We are looking at this happening before Diwali or by Diwali.

 

Q. Chana acreage saw a drastic slide in the past two years. What is the government doing to stop this?

A. They (sown areas) were falling because of El Nino effect as there was too much heat, but now that we have very good rains this year, we see chana sowing rising.

I have requested both the central nodal agencies, NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India), to go all out to have a pre-registration drive with farmers and to also provide them good seeds. We want farmers to understand that chana sowing can be a very good option for them. We are also expecting higher yields this time because the soil has moisture and will not require too much irrigation. There are about 13 to 14 states where chana is traditionally grown and where NCCF and NAFED will work in. The agriculture ministry has also been looped in and is engaging with all the state governments to increase chana sowing.

 

Q. Prices of vegetables, especially tomato, onion, and  potato, have been very high as compared to last year. What is the reason for this, and what is the government doing about it?

A. So we have maintained a buffer stock for onions, and that is how we started retail intervention of onions from Sept. 5. NCCF and NAFED are offering onions for INR 35 a kg in almost 600 locations. This has brought some cheer to the consumers. Before Diwali, we are lifting onions in bulk and there will be efforts for their bulk transportation to important destinations which are still showing a higher retail price.

 

Prices of potato are not going up like they were earlier. The rise has mellowed down and the national average is about INR 38 a kg. It is higher than last year, but it is stable. In fact, we were initially worried that because it's a single crop for a year, it would be very difficult to manage prices. But good rains provided ample green vegetables, which took pressure off potatoes.

 

In tomato, what has happened is that successive rains in Karnataka, specifically the Madanapalle and Kolar areas which are major producers and account for about 40% of the total supply, have faced issues. Very heavy rains in the third week of September, followed by continued rains and delayed retreat of monsoon, have caused very high humidity and have led to diseases. This has impacted the standing crop. There is curling of leaves, blight disease which has affected the output and the arrivals have been low. We will keep intervening till Diwali to bring down prices significantly.  End

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

 

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