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Informist, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

 

By Pallavi Singhal

 

NEW DELHI – Myanmar's urad production is projected to touch a record 2.1 million tonnes in the financial year 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), marking a steady rise from 1.8 million tonnes last year and 1.4 million tonnes in 2023-24, Tin Htut, deputy minister in Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture, told Informist. The surge comes at a time when concern about damage to India's kharif urad crop has increased following excessive monsoon rainfall in key growing states such as Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, raising the prospect of higher import dependence this year.

 

India is the biggest buyer of Myanmar's pulses and imported around 715,000 tonnes of urad from the country in FY25--accounting for over 87% of India's total urad import of 820,000 tonnes. It also imported about 400,000 tonnes of tur from Myanmar during the year. 

 

In a telephonic interaction with Informist, the minister said exports this year are expected to remain close to those levels as acreage and cropping patterns have held steady. "India is Myanmar's biggest market for pulses," he said. "We started growing pulses at such scale for the country. We aim to sustain export volumes to India and enhance productivity through better agronomic practices."

 

This year, India's own pulses crop in the kharif season has come under strain from prolonged rainfall, particularly during the pod formation stage. According to a government official, yield losses are expected in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and parts of Uttar Pradesh, key urad-growing states. "The current crop damage may widen India's supply gap, keeping imports from Myanmar steady or even higher," a senior official of an international trade organisation said.

 

Meanwhile, Myanmar's tur production is expected to rise modestly to 515,000 tonnes in FY26, up from 485,000 tonnes a year ago. The minister said the increase reflects stable acreage and favourable weather, with field verification of yields currently underway.

 

India remains virtually the sole market for Myanmar's urad and tur exports, a dependence that leaves the latter's farmers vulnerable to policy shifts in New Delhi. The bilateral import agreement under India's Open General Licence, signed in 2021, is valid until FY26, but its renewal is uncertain. "If the agreement lapses and India reduces imports, our farmers would likely shift to other crops such as soybean or sunflower," Tin Htut said. "That could shrink pulses acreage and make it difficult to quickly rebuild exports if demand returns."

 

According to the terms of the memorandum of understanding, India has issued an open general licence to import 100,000 tonnes of tur or pigeon pea and 250,000 tonnes of urad or black gram every year till FY26. An open general licence allows free imports without the need to apply for authorisation for each consignment. 

 

Meanwhile, Myanmar's exporters are facing increased scrutiny over pesticide residue in black gram and green gram shipments after several importers, including China, flagged non-compliance. The minister said Myanmar's government has launched programmes to reduce the use of pesticide and fungicide and promote good agricultural practices to safeguard export competitiveness. "Quality control is essential if we want to maintain and expand our export markets," Tin Htut said, adding that Myanmar aims to align with regional food safety standards. Myanmar primarily ships urad and tur to India while it exports green gram, or moong, to China and Europe. Consumption of pulses in Myanmar is low and the country's production is almost entirely for export. 

 

Myanmar also hopes to diversify its export portfolio beyond urad and tur, leveraging its capacity to produce rice bean, lablab bean, lima bean, and chickpea. "We welcome further engagement from Indian buyers and trade exhibitions to showcase Myanmar's pulse diversity," he said.

 

Talks between India and Myanmar to settle trade in pulses in local currencies, the rupee and the kyat, have been going on since FY23 but remain at a preliminary stage. "Such an arrangement could help lower transaction costs and reduce dollar dependence, though policy coordination is still needed," Tin Htut said.

 

India has also been relying on Brazil for urad supplies. Brazil is the country's second-largest supplier of urad after Myanmar.

 

India is the biggest producer and net importer of pulses. It needs about 26-27 million tonnes of pulses annually and produces only about 24 million tonnes. To meet domestic demand, it imports pulses from Australia, Myanmar, Canada, Brazil, and several African countries. India's demand for pulses is estimated to rise to 40 million tonnes by 2030. To reduce dependence on imports, the government is focusing on boosting domestic production. The Budget for FY26 had announced a six-year mission to attain self-sufficiency in pulses and had allocated INR 10 billion for the mission.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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