symbolic photo.

The government has now become very cautious about the prices of pulses and has given a clear message that it will not tolerate any kind of hoarding. Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh has said that the government has become very strict about the hoarding of pulses and other food items. In such a situation, no trader should do any such work which may create artificial shortage in the market or any such apprehension. This statement has come at a time when it is raining unseasonally and the fear of crop loss has increased in the country. Due to short supply after crop loss due to unseasonal rains in October last year, Kharif pulses and tur have started hoarding stocks.

prices of pulses stabilized

Officials are also looking at next year’s tur crop, which could be affected if meteorologists’ El Niño predictions come true. Arhar has a share of 13 percent in the domestic pulses basket. According to secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, the price of pigeon pea has stabilized after the government cracked down on traders, making disclosure of stocks mandatory. He said that at present the government has good stock.

Monitoring was started

According to Mint’s report, importers are hoarding pulses in Myanmar and making profits amid price hike. On March 27, after the Department of Consumer Affairs constituted a committee in coordination with state governments to monitor the stocks of tur with importers, millers, stockists and traders, the prices of pulses, especially arhar, started declining.

3% drop in price

Since the intervention, the wholesale price of tur in Maharashtra’s Akola has come down by nearly 3 per cent to Rs 8,700 per quintal, according to the agriculture ministry’s Agmarknet. According to Agmarknet, wholesale mill-quality tur prices had increased by 12.1 per cent in January-March, prompting the government to mandate stock disclosure. To avoid hoarding, the government is keeping a strict vigil on the disclosure of Arhar and Urad stocks.

how much is the stock

With the Centre’s intervention, as of April 21, 14,265 importers, traders, millers and stockists have disclosed 507,303 tonnes of pigeon pea in their stocks, as against 96,593 tonnes stocked by 12,850 beneficiaries a month ago. Tur production is expected to be 34 lakh tonnes (MT) in the financial year 2022-23 July-June, while the Ministry of Agriculture had estimated around 37 lakh tonnes in its second advance estimate. However, the industry expects production for the year to be lower at 2.7-2.8 MT as torrential rains in October could damage the standing tur crop in Maharashtra. The government says that there is no need to panic, the Center has a good stock of 150,000 tonnes of pigeon pea.