As Myanmar trade holds back tur, India warns of looking at G2G deal
Central talk about hoarding pulses like Tor (pigeon pea) and urad (black matpe) by private trade in MyanmarIndia on Wednesday warned exporters in the neighboring country that it might consider importing these items on a government-to-government (G2G) basis if supplies are not eased. It is understood that exporters of these pulses from Myanmar, a great supplier, are taking advantage of the scarcity in India, which has led to a steady price trend in recent months.
It confirmed the trade sources, who attended the virtual meeting held by Consumer Affairs Minister Rohit Kumar Singh on Wednesday to assess the situation on the availability of these two types of pulses.
private trade ban
The government has warned Myanmar exporters that if they take advantage of the scarcity in India, we will ban private trade and buy on a G2G basis. The Minister of Consumer Affairs gave them a friendly warning. Bimal Kothari, President, Indian Legumes and Grains Association (IPGA), said:
To manage the current rare status of tur, Kothari said the IPGA has proposed some measures to the government including promoting other alternative pulses like chana dal and masur dal, which are abundant and at minimum subsidy prices.
We also advised them that government agencies should not buy Tor in any of the various program tenders such as Midday Meals, ICDS, etc. We have suggested to replace the toor with chana dal or masoor dal or yellow peas, which are abundant and are a cheaper and good source of protein,” Kothari said. He said about half a million tons of toor are procured through government tenders annually for various schemes.
Enhance supplies
The Indian government is taking steps to ensure that the supply of these two pulses is facilitated through imports so that prices are kept in check. Al-Tur and Al-Ward imports remain open until March 2024 to boost supplies as the local production of these pulses has been affected due to the erratic weather pattern. In the recent past, following a steady trend in tor and import prices, the center directed pulses importers to announce stock availability in a routine transparent manner.
Rahul Chauhan of IGrain India said that phase prices have gone up in Myanmar along with local prices. Lemon development, which was priced at around $835 per ton on March 1, 2022, has now risen to $1,080. He added that African exporters raised their prices by $50 for the next crop.
According to the second pre-estimation, the production of al-Tur, which is a fall crop, decreased to 36.66 thousand tons in the 2022-23 season until June compared to 42.20 thousand tons last year, while the production of Awrad was estimated for both the fall and spring seasons. It decreased at 26.82 thousand tons, compared to 27.76 thousand tons a year ago, due to excessive rain.