Nafed to pump in pulses to cool prices
With the price of pulses firming up in the domestic markets after Maharashtra imposed storage restrictions and Delhi threatening to follow suit, the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) is gearing up to distribu...
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: With the price of pulses firming up in the domestic markets after Maharashtra imposed storage restrictions and Delhi threatening to follow suit, the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) is gearing up to distribute 49,300 tonnes of imported brad and mooing at 10 centres including Delhi, China, Chanter, Bhubaneshwar, Amritsar and Jaipur.
Till September 15, ‘06, 22,448 tonnes of urad and 318 tonnes of moong have been disposed off by Nafed. Of a contracted 49,300 tonnes of urad and moong, 78% has already been received and the rest is expected to be shipped within a week. The entire quantity of imported urad and moong will be released in the domestic market in a concerted bid to control hike in inclined prices.
The moves by Nafed come against the government’s first advance estimates for pulses projecting production of kharif pulses at 4.97m tonnes (mt) for ‘06-07 against the target of 5.78m tonnes. Compared to this, the first and fourth advance estimates on pulses production for ‘05-06 were 4.98m tonnes and 4.66m tonnes, respectively.
The government’s estimates on kharif pulses production for ‘06-07 is slightly lower than the production estimates made by the third national conference on pulses and related industries recently. The conference pegged kharif pulses production for ‘06-07 at 40.2 lakh tonnes, 7 lakh tonnes lower than the government’s estimates.
According to officials, the estimates were arrived at after a careful deliberation over the acreage and the impact of adverse weather — both excess and deficient rains.’
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The pulses conference, organised by Agriwatch (Indian Agri Business Systems) also made projections for rabi pulses crop, based on projected soil moisture conditions and water and seed availability for the rabi crop. rabi pulses production has been pegged at 8.2m tonnes, bringing up the total pulses production for the year ‘06-07 to a projected 12.8m tonnes, compared to 10.5m tonnes in ‘05-06. The conference has estimated a pulses production of 33.5 lakh tonnes in kharif and 67.25 lakh tonnes in rabi this year. Sources said the estimates for the outgoing ‘05-06 seasons were also revised, taking into account the “ground realities and the actual observed arrivals and stock positions.”
In the wake of high domestic prices of chana and urad, the country is now buying cheaper white peas from Australia and is waiting for the November chana crop from that country against apprehensions that import will be at a high import prices.
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