More Stories

Informist, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024

 

By Pallavi Singhal

 

NEW DELHI – To bolster its dwindling stocks and retain the ability to stabilise market prices, the Centre will attempt to procure tur directly from farmers from January, a senior official told Informist. The government, according to the official, will aim to procure about 1 million tonnes of tur.

 

"Tur arrivals begin in large quantities towards the end of December and early January," the official said. "The discussion right now is to procure when the arrivals are at a high towards the end of January, where they are expected to be closer to the minimum support prices," the official said.

 

Tur prices in wholesale markets have been hovering between INR 9,200 and INR 10,000 per 100 kg, up substantially from the minimum support price of INR 7,550 per 100 kg.

 

The government will undertake procurement through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd., which will procure tur directly from farmers for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, to be offloaded when prices of this essential commodity rise.

 

The procurement of the seed is crucial, with zero buffer stocks available with the government currently. According to another senior government official, the Centre had made several attempts to procure tur last season as well, but could not, because of low availability and high prices. Tur was being sold at about INR 10,000 per 100 kg in February, when the government stepped in to procure the commodity. As per the buffer norms, the Department of Consumer Affairs needs to have at least 500,000 tonnes of tur in stock.

 

"The problem with procuring at a time like this--when output has been impacted for two consecutive years--is that whatever comes to the market gets absorbed easily and there is barely any excess," the first official explained. "Moreover, as soon as the government steps in to procure, prices shoot up, defeating our purpose of keeping prices down."

 

The government intervention plan comes at a time when average retail prices of tur dal, which is processed from tur and is an important ingredient in many Indian kitchens, are 7.6% higher on year at INR 163 per kg as of Oct. 17, according to government data. Over the past two years, the retail price of tur dal has risen over 45%. The average price of the commodity on Oct. 17, 2022, was INR 112 per kg, according to government data.

 

Production of tur in 2023-24 (Apr-Mar) is expected to be 3.4 million tonnes, unchanged from the previous year's output, according to the agriculture ministry's second advance estimate. However, traders expect production to be lower than the government's estimate. In 2021-22, India's tur production was 4.2 million tonnes.

 

The government, however, is hoping for better production this year with acreage under tur up 14% on year at 4.7 million hectares.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.