Pulse holding rule may last till end Dec with tighter limit

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : The Centre plans to tighten the stockholding limit on tur (pigeon pea) and urad (black gram) pulses and extend it by two months in a bid to check prices and boost domestic supplies until the arrival of fresh stocks. The government also plans to purchase farmers’ produce as well as imported masur (lentil) from the domestic market under the price stabilization fund (PSF) scheme, two senior officials said. The government slapped limits on the stocks of tur and urad dal in June to curb hoarding and speculation amid soaring prices.

Stock limits are in place on a range of entities such as wholesalers, retailers, millers and importers until 31 October. “We are looking at extending the period for holding limits on the stocks of tur and urad dal and reducing the permitted holding limit because it is unlikely that by 31 October prices will come down and the fresh Kharif crops will hit the market," one of the officials said. “The imported stock prices are also hovering higher than the previous year.

Kharif sowing has not been as good as it was anticipated to be. Things are unlikely to improve. So, we will have to extend it beyond 31 October." While farmer-produced tur prices in the key mandis of Maharashtra and Karnataka are ₹10,000-11,7000 a quintal, urad prices are at ₹8,500-9,000 per quintal, according to spot traders.

The minimum support price of both these pulses was fixed at ₹ 6,600 for the 2022-23 Kharif marketing season. As far as cultivation of these crops is concerned, the area under tur had dipped 2.6% to 4.3 million hectares and that under urad declined 0.7% to 3.2 million hectares till 15 September. “If the proposal gets through, the stock-holding limit may be extended till the end of December.