Output of kharif pulses in 2021-22 estimated to be 12% lower than target of 9.82 million tonnes
Farming Cosmos Market Report: In its ‘Price Policy for Kharif Crops: Marketing Season 2022-23’, the Indian government’s Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has stated that the market prices of the kharif (summer-sown) pulses – tur/arhar (pigeon pea), moong (green gram) and urad (black gram) — remained below the minimum support price (MSP) for most of the days during the kharif marketing season (KMS) 2021-22.
The Indian government had on June 8, 2022 announced the MSP for the KMS 2022-23 for tur/arhar, moong and urad at Rs 6,600 per quintal, Rs 7,755 per quintal and Rs 6,600 per quintal respectively.
MSP FOR 2022-23 KHARIF MARKETING SEASON
| Crop | MSP for 2022-23 (Rs/Q) | MSP for 2021-22 (Rs/Q) | Increase (Rs/Q) | Increase in percentage |
| Tur/Arhar | 6,600 | 6,300 | 300 | 4.76% |
| Moong | 7,755 | 7,275 | 480 | 6.59% |
| Urad | 6,600 | 6,300 | 300 | 4.76% |
Analysing the market data, CACP stated that prices of tur/arhar remained below the MSP from the KMS 2017-18 to KMS 2020-21. The commission stated that the decline in tur/arhar market prices was due to the increase in pulses production in the country and higher imports. The gap between MSP and market prices of tur/arhar was -8.5% in KMS 2021-22.
During the KMS 2021-22, market prices of tur/arhar remained below the MSP for most of the days in the major-producing states. The price gap was the highest in Madhya Pradesh (-20.3%) followed by Gujarat (-12.3%), Karnataka (-6.3%) and Maharashtra (-6.1%).
Market prices vis-à-vis MSP of tur/arhar in major producing states in KMS 2021-22
| State | No. of days market prices reported | No. of days market prices were above MSP | Average difference between market price and MSP (%) | |
| Gujarat | 130 | 1 | -12.3 | |
| Karnataka | 127 | 11 | -6.3 | |
| Madhya Pradesh | 144 | 5 | -20.3 | |
| Maharashtra | 148 | 5 | -6.1 | |
| Uttar Pradesh | 151 | 58 | -0.9 |
(Source: 1. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, India; AGMARKNET, Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, India; for computing weighted average domestic market prices)
For moong, the gap between market prices and MSP was -16.8% in KMS 2021-22. During KMS 2021-22, market prices of moong remained below MSP during most of the days in the major-producing states Rajasthan and MP except Maharashtra. The average price difference of moong was -20.6% in Rajasthan, -16.3% in MP and -4.4% in Maharashtra.
Market prices vis-à-vis MSP of moong in major producing states in KMS 2021-22
| State | No. of days market prices reported | No. of days market prices were above MSP | Average difference between market price and MSP (%) | |
| Maharashtra | 144 | 46 | -4.4 | |
| Rajasthan | 150 | 0 | -20.6 | |
| Madhya Pradesh | 138 | 0 | -16.3 |
(Source: 1. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, India; AGMARKNET, Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, India; for computing weighted average domestic market prices)
For urad, the gap between market prices and MSP was -8.9% in KMS 2019-20, which improved to 2.3% in KMS 2020-21. The gap again increased -16.9% in KMS 2021-22 due to a significant decrease in market prices, CACP stated.
In KMS 2021-22, market prices of urad stayed below in all major-producing states except Uttar Pradesh. The average market prices of urad were above 4.8% of MSP in UP while these were below MSP in MP (-24%), Rajasthan (-14.5%), Tamil Nadu (-13.8%) and Maharashtra (-13.2).
Market prices vis-à-vis MSP of urad in major producing states in KMS 2021-22
| State | No. of days market prices reported | No. of days market prices were above MSP | Average difference between market price and MSP (%) | |
| Madhya Pradesh | 150 | 4 | -24 | |
| Maharashtra | 144 | 4 | -13.2 | |
| Rajasthan | 134 | 9 | -14.5 | |
| Tamil Nadu | 85 | 26 | -13.8 | |
| Uttar Pradesh | 151 | 130 | 4.8 |
(Source: 1. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, India; 2. AGMARKNET, Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, India; for computing weighted average domestic market prices)
Estimated output of kharif pulses to be lower
Further, CACP stated in its price policy report that the production of kharif pulses in India in 2021-22 is estimated at 8.6 million tonnes, which is lower than 12% to its target of 9.82 million tonnes. Among kharif pulses, production of tur/arhar (pigeon pea) is estimated at 4 million tonnes, which is 7% (4.3 million tonnes) lower as compared with 2020-21. According to the CACP report, production of urad (black gram) is estimated to improve 19% in 2021-22 as compared with 2020-21 but it is still 25% less than the target of 3.53 million tonnes. Moong (green gram) production in India is estimated at 3.06 million tonnes, which is marginally lower compared with 3.09 million tonnes in 2020-21.
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