According to Bimal Kothari, Vice-Chairman, India Pulses & Grains Association, while the main festive season will come to an end after Diwali, the wedding season that will start by mid-November will ensure some sustained offtake as well
The policy interventions by the government to allow the import of key pulses under OGL till December 31 have yielded positive results for the Indian consumer.
According to Bimal Kothari, Vice-Chairman, India Pulses & Grains Association, there is a money liquidity crisis in the market, putting downward pressure on prices that have now levelled off to the advantage of the consumers. Going forward, we expect the demand and supply ratio to remain balanced and consumer prices will remain stable. The offtake of pulses, though lesser compared to previous years, has also improved a little during the festive season and with the opening of the HoReCa sector. While the main festive season will come to an end after Diwali, the wedding season that will start by mid-November will ensure some sustained offtake as well. The prices have reduced by 8 per cent to 10 per cent from the August levels and have remained stable during this festive season. Prices for tur have dropped by Rs 6 to Rs 7 per kg while Urad and Masoor prices have dropped by Rs 5 to Rs 6 per kg. Even with Chana, the trade expected some shortages but that did not happen and prices for Chana remained just around or a little higher than MSP.”
As far as Rabi sowing is concerned, it is a little early to predict anything as sowing is just about starting. However, we feel that the stability of Chana prices during this year will encourage higher sowing and the heavy rainfall in September has also ensured a good water table in the soil which too will help Chana sowing. We will have a better idea of the sowing numbers by the end of November or the first week of December.
