Hey All,

As the year closes in, we are looking at the Indian market and its challenges with meeting demand for grains and pulses as well as the effects that weather has played in the current climate of civil unrest and anger towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Along with China, the Indian market has become a major player in the global agricultural commodities trade and as a leading destination for protein based products from Canada, USA, Russia, Ukraine, Australia, Myanmar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan and Malawi, all being major import sources.

Staple pulses are expected to be imported from Burma, Mozambique, South Africa, Malawi and Kenya, among other nations.

Dal (lentil) millers in the country have asked the government to extend the deadline till year-end to allow for the import of pulses.

Since the prices of pulses such as chana (chickpea), urad (black gram), moong (green gram) and masoor (lentil) have gone up by 5-10% in the past months due to rains in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, it is likely to impact the output, as per market reports.

According to the All India Dal Millers Association, in order to compensate the damage to the crop of urad (black gram), the quota of import of pulses should be increased by one lakh tonne (100,000 tons) so that mills can process urad (black gram) till March 2020.

A Guide To Pulses

The India Pulses and Grains Association has stated that a slowdown in the release of stock from NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) has perked up the majority of pulses in the Indore region.

Urad (bold) is rising to ₹7,800-8,100 ($114) a quintal (per 100kg bag), while Urad (medium) ruled at ₹6,000-6,100 ($85) per 100 kg. Urad dal (medium) was quoted at ₹8,500-8,600 ($121) per 100 kg, Urad dal (bold) at ₹8,700-8,800 ($123) per 100 kg, while Urad moongar ruled at ₹10,100-10,500 ($147) per 100 kg.

Urad is also known as Black Gram or Black Matpe.

Chana held steady in the Indore region with Chana (kanta) quoted at ₹4,000-4,375 ($61) per 100 kg, Chana (desi type) at ₹4,300 ($60) per 100 kg, while Chana (vishal) was quoted at ₹4,250-4,300 ($60) per 100 kg.

Dal is often translated as “lentils” but actually refers to a split version of a number of lentils, peas, chickpeas (chana), kidney beans and so on. If a pulse is split into half, it is a dal. For example, split mung beans are mung dal.

Chana dal (average) was quoted at ₹5,200-5,300 ($74) per 100 kg, Chana dal (medium) at ₹5,400-5,500 ($77) per 100 kg, while Chana dal (bold) was quoted at ₹5,600-5,700 ($80) per 100 kg.

Chana is also known as Chickpea.

There has been a sharp increase in the onion prices in India due to the unpredictable weather with concerns ahead of civil unrest and food inflation.

The Financial Times reports that extreme heat earlier this year followed by excess rainfall from the annual monsoon has led to a drastic fall in production in India’s key growing areas. The monsoon is critical for the country’s agriculture, but the weather event has become increasingly erratic due in part to the changing climate, with warming oceans leading to extreme rainfall.

Wholesale onion prices at Azadpur, a leading hub for onion traders near New Delhi, jumped almost 500 per cent from the start of the year to Rs1,908 ($26.50) per 40kg after soaring to a six-year high of Rs2,400 in April.

This year’s recent monsoon left Indian and Pakistani harvesting areas up to three weeks later than normal, which has impacted the kharif, or Indian summer-crop, pulse harvest, and delayed the seeding of its rabi or winter crop.

The extended raining season will have a significant impact on the amount and quality of tur (pigeon pea) and urad (black gram/mung) in the key producing states of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Pigeon pea prices have now risen by around one-third since the start of the year, and an Indian Government official has said imports are needed to stop them from rising further.

Chickpeas and lentils are planted in India and Pakistan from October to December, and the extended monsoon season could well have a neutral effect on production, with good yields from replenished subsoil-moisture reserves offsetting the impact of a later or reduced planting.

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-Editor in Chief, Ronnie Luwero