NEW DELHI: Amid the report of nearly 4.3% reduction in the acreage under the pulses during the current kharif sowing season, which may impact the overall production, a top government official said they will continue with the liberal import regime to meet the domestic demand.
According to the data released by the agriculture ministry, the acreage under tur has fallen by nearly 6% and in the case of urad and moong, it’s close to 4% each. Overall acreage under pulses stood at 129.5 lakh hectares during this season compared to approximately 135.5 lakh hectares during last year.
Speaking at a webinar organised by India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), Union consumer affairs secretary, Rohit Kumar Singh said there will be demand for pulses in the next couple of months and the production outlook is not excellent this year. “We are expecting that the seamless flow imports will help us ease the situation in terms of pricing,” he added.
Singh said the tur and urad are already under the free import regime.
The secretary said, it’s a reality that India has to import pulses to meet the domestic demand till it becomes self sufficient. “If you don’t have enough domestic production, you keep your borders open for facilitating the import of pulses from the overseas market and this year we have had a comparatively stable import regime in terms of pulses,” Singh said.
He added that earlier, the decisions for imports were for three months or six months. But this has been changed to give the right signal to the farmers in other countries who primarily produce pules for India. While the annual domestic production of pulses is around 260 lakh tonnes, India consumes more than 270 lakh tonnes.
IPGA chairman, Bimal Kothari said even though the monsoon was delayed, there has been a “more proactive monsoon in July and August”, which can increase the production. He added that better production will “eventually maintain the price stability and lessen dependence on imports”.
According to the data released by the agriculture ministry, the acreage under tur has fallen by nearly 6% and in the case of urad and moong, it’s close to 4% each. Overall acreage under pulses stood at 129.5 lakh hectares during this season compared to approximately 135.5 lakh hectares during last year.
Speaking at a webinar organised by India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), Union consumer affairs secretary, Rohit Kumar Singh said there will be demand for pulses in the next couple of months and the production outlook is not excellent this year. “We are expecting that the seamless flow imports will help us ease the situation in terms of pricing,” he added.
Singh said the tur and urad are already under the free import regime.
The secretary said, it’s a reality that India has to import pulses to meet the domestic demand till it becomes self sufficient. “If you don’t have enough domestic production, you keep your borders open for facilitating the import of pulses from the overseas market and this year we have had a comparatively stable import regime in terms of pulses,” Singh said.
He added that earlier, the decisions for imports were for three months or six months. But this has been changed to give the right signal to the farmers in other countries who primarily produce pules for India. While the annual domestic production of pulses is around 260 lakh tonnes, India consumes more than 270 lakh tonnes.
IPGA chairman, Bimal Kothari said even though the monsoon was delayed, there has been a “more proactive monsoon in July and August”, which can increase the production. He added that better production will “eventually maintain the price stability and lessen dependence on imports”.
