In the last one month, the price of tur dal has increased by 10 percent. Image Credit source: File Photo

Inflation will make tur dal disappear from children’s plate! We are not saying this, but an application has been made to the government to replace pigeon pea or toor dal with other pulses like masoor or gram for the mid-day meal across the country. The reason for this is that the price of tur dal has increased by 10 percent in the last one month.

India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), the leading organization of pulses and cereals in India, has requested the government to replace tur dal with other pulses in the mid-day meal project. There is a possibility of reducing the production of tur dal in the crop year (July-June) this year.

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Unseasonal rain spoiled the work

In October this year, unseasonal rains ruined the tur dal crop. States like Maharashtra and Karnataka produce maximum tur dal in India. The rain has affected the crop in both the states. Due to this, the prices of pigeon pea or tur dal have increased.

In the last financial year 2022-23, the government had imported 8,50,000 tonnes of tur dal to meet the domestic demand. On the other hand, the import of urad and tur dal has been kept in the ‘free category’. At the same time, the last date for import in this category has also been extended by the government till 31st March.

5 lakh tonnes of pulses should be imported

ET has quoted IPGA chairman Bimal Kothari as saying that the association has asked the government to issue tenders for another 5 lakh tonnes of pulses. Now the government can also issue a tender to import only tur dal for its mid-day meal scheme. If this happens then the prices of Arhar Dal will come down in the country.

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The benefit of mid-day meal is given to students studying in 11.20 lakh government schools across the country. This is the world’s largest school lunch project. It was started to reduce the school drop rate. Recently this project was reformed and renamed as PM Poshan, which is a scheme to provide nutritious food to 11.80 crore children.

Toor Dal came from Myanmar, Sudan

The production of tur dal in India is estimated to be 36.6 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 crop year. This is 13 percent less than the production of 42.2 lakh tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year. Whereas in the financial year 2022-23, India’s total production of all types of pulses has been 27 million tonnes.

India mostly imports tur dal from Myanmar, Tanzania, Mozambique and Sudan. Now, due to the deteriorating situation in Sudan, there may be some impact on the imports from there.