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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025

 

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--Pulses body secy: See 2025-26 kharif pulses acreage up over 5% on year
--CONTEXT: Pulses association Secretary Upadhyay in interview with Informist
--Pulses body secy: See high moisture content in 30-50% urad, moong arrivals
--Pulses body secy: Tur output depends on how Sept rains play out
--Pulses body secy: See 5-10% crop damage in tur, 20-30% in urad, moong
--Pulses body secy:See urad, moong sowing up in summer on low crop loss risk
--Pulses body secy: Govt must strengthen procurement process to help farmers
--Pulses body secy: Extension of duty-free tur imports to depend on output

 

By Shreya Shetty, J. Navya Sruthi, and Abhijit Doshi

 

MUMBAI – Though moong and urad are mostly produced in the kharif season, the sensitivity of the legumes to climatic factors is resulting in farmers increasingly sowing them in the summer crop season as well. With the risk of crop loss to rain damage lower in the summer and minimum support prices attractive, this trend is expected to grow, Satish Upadhyay, secretary, India Pulses and Grains Association, said.

 

Both urad and moong are grown round the year despite being kharif crops, and the acreage of these two crops during the summer crop season has been rising. The area under urad in the summer crop season was 300,000 hectares in the crop year 2024-25 (Jul-Jun), up from 270,000 hectares in 2023-24 and 260,000 hectares in 2022-23, according to data from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Similarly, summer moong acreage in 2024-25 was 2.0 million hectares, compared to 1.9 million hectares in 2023-24 and 2022-23.
 

On the other hand, though the government's decision to raise the minimum support price for tur should have encouraged farmers, it is the procurement process that has hampered a rise in tur acreage this year, Upadhyay told Informist in an interview. A delayed start to procurement, coupled with a process that was not farmer-friendly, has hurt the prospects of a rise in tur production this year, he said. The minimum support price for tur was raised by INR 450 to INR 8,000 per 100 kg for the kharif marketing season 2025-26 (Oct-Sept).

 

Upadhyay said India's dependency on pulses imports and the country's aim to be self-sufficient in pulses are different things. He said the country needs to import pulses to meet demand. Being self-sufficient is a long-term goal. "They (the government) have to study soil, put technology, and take farmers into confidence that they will buy at MSP (minimum support price). But it cannot happen by just increasing MSP," he said.

 

The following are edited excerpts from the interview:

 

Q: What is your outlook for pulses production and yield for the ongoing kharif season?

A: As per our estimate, it is more than 5% (higher than) the kharif sowing (last year). There has been late sowing in some regions. In other regions, oilseed prices were not attractive, (so farmers) have shifted to pulses.

 

The production will be good. Quality-wise, production will suffer because of excess rain. Quality-wise, there will be some setbacks, such as in urad and moong. The tur crop is still under process, vegetative growth of the plant is very good, but we have to wait and watch how the rains play out, as September rains are expected to be more than August.

 

Q: Does this entail a fall in yield or damage to standing or harvested crops?

A: Urad and moong have been coming into the mandis (spot markets) since the past two weeks, but the moisture (content in the legumes) is very high. The water damage is very high, crop with almost 30-50% water damage is coming, which is not useful. The quality is very low--it is not fit for processing, for human consumption--and it is selling much below the MSP.

 

Q: There have been reports of damage to pulses crops in several states due to heavy rainfall. What is the extent of the damage?

A: Tentatively there is 5-10?mage in plants in case of tur. For urad and moong, the losses are more than 20-30%. 

 

Q: More urad and moong farmers are opting to grow the legume in the summer crop season over the kharif season. Do you expect this trend to continue?

A: Urad and moong sowing will rise in the summer crop season because the summer crop quality is better, the losses are not there, and the MSP (minimum support price) is very good from the farmer's point of view. Both moong and urad are sensitive crops. Suppose the crop is standing and rains are coming, it is damaged immediately. So, being a sensitive crop, this will shift to summer. So this trend will continue.

 

In the case of moong, because the MSP is very good and losses are not there, we have seen major growth in summer crop in MP (Madhya Pradesh) because of water facility like canals. In Maharashtra and Gujarat too, water facility is there. The farmer prefers to sow moong because it is a small crop and gives very good yield and returns. In the case of urad now it (sowing during the summer crop season) started slowly but farmers are not coming aggressively as most of the time it is selling below MSP because of continuous import from Myanmar.

 

Q: Do you think the government's decision to raise the minimum support price of tur was inadequate to encourage tur farmers? What other measurements should be in place?

A: The MSP is encouraging. What is not encouraging is that the procurement at MSP is not done in a proper way. (In the crop year 2024-25,) the (tur) crop started arriving from the month of January, but the government MSP procurement started in the months of March and April. (Then too), very few centres were opened and the process (of procurement) was not good. The process was not farmer-friendly.

 

The government could not procure even 15-20% of the entire pulses production, so we have raised the question--they were not able to procure 10-15% of production, so how are they are expecting (to procure) 27-28 million tonnes?

 

(Government) can keep increasing the MSP of tur, but they have a limitation--if you keep increasing the MSP, then the finished product prices will increase and that will put it out of reach of the poor. They need to strengthen the MSP procurement.

 

Q: Duty-free imports of tur is also hurting farmer sentiment. Do you see the government imposing a duty after expiry of the duty-free period on Mar. 31?

A: Import (prices) of tur were more than the MSP in the past 3-4 years. We had very few imports below MSP, maybe hardly 20-30%, but this year the prices (of domestic tur) are 20-25?low the MSP in India itself in mandis. Due to that, import (prices) are also (low) this year.

 

In East Africa, tur crop is much better this year, it is around 1 million tonnes. They have pressure to sell their crop. No other country imports tur besides India, so they have to sell the entire crop to India. And now, since prices in India are much below MSP and their (African countries') production is very good, (import) price has come below MSP. But government cannot impose an import duty because most of the imports are coming from LDC (least developed countries).

 

The decision on import duty will depend on tur production this year. Suppose tur production suffers, the government won't want to impose the duty.

 

Q: Despite 10% duty on chana, imports from Australia continue. Will a 20% duty on chana imports be effective or do we need a higher duty?

A: We need a greater number. A higher import duty on chana before sowing will give a message to farmers. So farmers will be confident about growing chana.

 

Currently, chana prices in mandis are INR 55-INR 65 per kg, while the MSP is at INR 56.50 per kg. So if they will not impose a duty, then the farmer will not take interest in sowing chickpea but may shift to wheat for better yield.

 

Secondly, chana is almost 40-45% of the entire pulses basket. So, if we suffer in chana production, then there will be pressure on the entire basket. So government will always try to get at least better chana production.

 

And if chana output is better, then they can fulfil use in number of schemes, like PMGKAY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana), as it is a good source of protein.

 

Q: With low import duty on chana and duty-free imports of yellow pea, do you see any drop in chana acreage this rabi season?

A: It is too early to say. First we have to see how September goes, as rainfall in September is expected (to be) more than August.

 

Q: Australia's lentil production has hit a record high. Is this encouraged by their exports to India?

A: Australia's maximum exports of lentil are to India, but they also export to the UAE, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. They have grown more lentil as in the initial stage it was heard that the Canadian lentil sowing was lesser. But later the Canadians have also picked up lentil sowing.

 

Q: Can we expect a free-trade agreement with Australia about importing chana and other pulses?

A: Australia wants to include chana along with lentil in the FTA (free-trade agreement). It was around 150,000 tonnes of lentils (annually) we can import from Australia under FTA. But they (Australia) wanted to increase the quantity. So, they are putting pressure on the government to include chana and increase the quantity because the production is much more in Australia and India should at least buy better quantity than what they have mentioned in the FTA.

 

Q: With so much of buying from other countries, can India ever be self-sufficient in pulses?

A: That is not simple. These are two different things. We say atmanirbhar here, but we need imports. It is a long-run process because they have to increase the area (under pulses). If the import rate will be raised, then automatically the import dependency will reduce. They (the government) have to study soil, put technology, and give farmers the confidence that they will buy at MSP. It cannot happen by just increasing MSP. Self-sufficiency can come, that is not a big issue.

 

See, we hardly import 20% of our consumption. And if we increase production by around 20% and if the quality and yield is better, then we don't require the import of pulses. Currently, India's (pulses crop) yields are very low compared to other countries. If (yields) are increased by say 5%, 10%, that will also help us to reduce import dependency.

 

Second, only 10% shift of area from other crops to pulses will automatically solve these problems. And that can be easily adjusted against rice, wheat, maize, or sugarcane.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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