Pulses: Farmers' earnings fall
September 12, 2017 at 2:32 PM ,
Rainbow Exports
Pulses farmers' earnings fall
Pulses production was at record level of 22.95 million tonnes in the year 2016-17, which was about 40 per cent from 2015-16 and 19 per cent more than previous record production of 2013-14. It has been said in the study that the government has clearly been unable to overcome the cycle of fluctuations in prices of pulses. Chief economist Dharmakirti Joshi said in Crisil, "It is important to do this because the pulses account for 5 per cent of the total food intake of households in India and during the last 12 years, the average annual inflation in pulses has been 12 per cent."
Despite being a large part of the food budget and inflation basket of the families, the government has so far failed to curb its cycle of volatility in its prices. Joshi also said, "The cycle of this fluctuation affects both the producer and the consumer. Now the government should work towards bringing the prices to the appropriate level through effective MSP, open trade policy and fair market. Along with this, the crop should be risk-free by increasing alternative irrigation facilities.
Last year, the average MSP of 5 major pulses was increased by 12 percent, but in spite of this, the wholesale price of pulses (except gram) dropped by 8 percent. Due to heavy production and cheap imports, market prices of Tur (Pigeon Peas) and Moong (Green Mungbeans) fell below MSP in the harvesting season of 2017. Between October 2016 and February 2017, model prices of Tur (Pigeon Peas) and Moong (Green Mungbeans) were below MSP in major wholesale markets of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana. As a result, till last Friday the area of pulse has decreased to 13.76 million hectares, which was 14.3 million hectares till this time last year.
In India, the consumption of pulses in prices decreases, so the consumption of pulses has also increased. Generally, on an average 4.0 million tons of pulses are imported every year and domestic production is about 18.0 million tonnes. However, despite the production of 23.0 million tonnes in 2016-17, the import has crossed 6.0 million tonnes. Crisil has suggested making a multi-level strategy. It has said that the price of gram (peas) has not come down more than the MSP, so it generally gives best profits in pulses. The reason for this is that 40 to 45 per cent of the total production and 60 per cent of the export of pulses. According to the report, "There is no restriction on exports, so it gives more profits to the farmers because domestic demand in the international market has the scope for consumption of additional supplies."
View related articles
