Racing pulses: Why aren’t dal prices dropping?
Mint explains the background and lists the options: Consumers in India use a whole variety of pulses, including tur (pigeon pea), masoor (lentils), chana (gram), urad (black gram), and moong (green gram) as a staple. The most recent data from the consumer affairs department shows that except for lentils, the year-on-year price rise in other varieties ranges from 19% for gram to 41% for tur. In some major cities the price rise is more pronounced.
For instance, retail tur prices in Delhi have shot up by about 50% to ₹173 per kg now compared with ₹118 last year. The price rise is worrying as pulses are an important source of protein for many families. Data from the agriculture ministry shows that the area under rain-fed kharif pulses this year was 11.5% less than the five-year average.
This means production is likely to drop to 7.12 million tonnes as per the first advance estimates released late last month, compared with 8.16 million tonnes last year, and the previous best of 9.6 million tonnes in 2016-17. Production was also impacted by below-normal rains in major growing states such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Worryingly, planting of winter grown pulses is also lagging year-on-year—by as much as 12% for gram—as of 24 November.
Pulses are mostly grown on marginal land, with little or no access to irrigation. Some varieties like tur are low-yielding, long duration crops. As access to irrigation improved, farmers switched to high-yielding cereals that come with guaranteed price support.
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