export prospects of pulses

8/7/2019 Export Prospects of Pulses

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Export Prospects of Pulsesfrom India

The word pulses commonly known as peas, beans or lentils is today a householdword. These are found to contain low fat, low sodium, high fibre, no cholesteroland a good source of protein and minerals. These have emerged as the mostimportant crop group which has been cultivated by human beings since the timeimmortal. These have become very important in our daily diet. At least one of these pulses ( dals ) - gram, mung, masur , is found in the menu of most of theIndian families every day.Production of pulses is restricted to Asian countries to a large extent and

particularly in the Indian sub continent. Apart from India some of the other countries who produce pulses comprise: Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, andCanada. India over the years continues to be the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world. Amongst various pulses, urad continues to be the largestconsumed pulses. The major pulse crops grown in India include gram, mung

beans, urad, pigeon peas, dry peas, and lentils.

India grows a variety of pulse crops under a wide range of agro-climateconditions and is recognized globally as a major player in pulses contributing


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around 25 per cent of the global production. The Government of India has setup a plethora of bodies to look after development and marketing of pulses.Some of the major ones include:Indian Institute of Pulses Research (Kanpur)which over the years has been acting as a national centre for basic and applied

research on pulse crops such as chickpea, pigeon pea, mung bean, urad bean,lentil, etc. To boost production of pulses, it has developed a host of highyielding varieties in respect of these crops. Indian Agriculture ResearchInstitute, New Delhi has developed a large number of improved varieties of

pulses.NAFED, set up under the Ministry of Agriculture,Government of India,is another government agency engaged in promoting direct export/import and

procurement of pulses in the country. Its International Trade Division isinvolved in constant research and exploration work for this purpose. Regular efforts are made by the Division identify new markets and new commodities.

The Division has also been engaged to promote direct export business of pulseslike lentils, gram, etc. Besides, it undertakes import of pulses.

Indias Pulse Production

Indias pulse production during the last five years varied in the range of 11 to 15million metric tonnes. Normal area under pulse cultivation has been growingrapidly partly to improve soil condition and for better earnings prospects. Areaunder pulse cultivation is 12.85 million hectares and yields range anywhere

between 600 to 1200 kg per hectare. In the current season, pulses production isestimated to cross 15 million tonnes which will account for 62- 67 per cent of world pulse production. Given its strong production pattern and consumption

profile, the country plays a major role in the world pulses market.Madhya Pradesh is the largest producing state of pulses in India followed byUttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar.

Current Scenario

Presenting the current scenario of Indian pulses, a recent news story publishedunder the heading Stagnating Output Forces Pulses Import states that thegreen revolution seems to have bypassed pulses production, with no

breakthrough in high yielding varieties. The result: near stagnation in output anda decline in per capita availability. In spite of being the largest producer, India,it says continues to import pulses to bridge the demand-supply gap. With anestimated output of 13.38 million tonnes in 2004-05 against a target of 15.30million tonnes, the country continues to import pulses to keep prices under check. In 2003-04, the country, it says, imported pulses worth Rs. 2,251 crore.

It further states that with a domestic demand of 17 million tonnes and anaverage supply of about 15 million tonnes, the Government is forced to import


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up to two million tonnes of pulses every year. Despite setting a productiontarget of 15 milliontonnes for some years, the country has not been able to reachit. The closest it came to achieving the target was in 2003-04, when the outputtouched 14.94 million tonnes. Further, it says that according to Indian Council

of Agriculture Research, productivity is low because pulses are raised inmarginal lands which are not irrigated and drought prone. Variety wise major pulses crops producing states in India.

Import of pulses by India

India over the years continues to be the worldslargest importer of pulses.Despite being the largest producer, the country has to rely upon

imports due to explosive growth in population.The country meets its domesticneeds primarily through imports from USA, Canada, Australia, Myanmar,

Turkey and Tanzania, Canada, etc. In order to supplement the availability of pulses, NAFED imported 690 metric tonnes of various pulses valued at Rs.143.75 crore in 2004-05.

Recent developments

(i) National conference on pulses: The second National Conference on Pulsesand Related Industries, organized recently in Delhi by Agriwatch Magazineemphasized the need for conducting demand supply study of these essential

vegetable protein supplying crops. It also called for adequate policy support for encouraging cultivation of pulses. The conference provided a unique


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opportunity for millers, exporters, traders, brokers, processors and machinerymanufacturers to network, make strategic alliances, transfer technology, explore

joint ventures and meet potential clients.

(ii) Centrally sponsored scheme: The Annual Report (2004-05) of theMinistry of Agriculture, Government of India states that for providingflexibility to states in implementation of regional approach to the pulses

programmes, the Government has merged its various projects relatedwith pulses, oilseeds, oil palm and maize into one project namedCentrally Sponsored Integrated Scheme . Under the scheme, incentivesare being provided to farmers for production e.g. distribution of certifiedseeds, seed mini-kits, micronutrients, sprinkler sets, improved farmimplements, plant protection equipment, etc. so as to motivate them to

take up cultivation of pulses on a large scale. Besides this, for effectivetransfer of improved pulse production technology, field demonstrations onfarmers fields and farmers training are also organized under the scheme.

Indias exportsExport of pulses from India is kept under the category of OGL (Open GeneralLicense) in the current Export-Import policy of India.(i) Indias ExportsVariety wise: Indias exports of pulses in 2004-05, asmay be seen from Table 1, made a phenomenal growth of 68.31 per cent over the previous year when the same reached a level of Rs. 566.16 crore as againstRs. 366.38 crore. Lentils (masur) continues to dominate exports, accounting for a share of 52.58 per cent of the total exports of pulses in 2004-05 followed by


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other varieties such as other dried & shelled leguminous vegetables other than split (28.19%), tuar (8.11%), chickpeas, dried & shelled (6.34%), andother dried and shelled leguminous vegetables split (3.03%).

Variety wise export trend during the period reveals that barring peas , dried & shelled, all other varieties showed exceptionally steep growth e.g. " Chickpeas,dried & shelled" (565.00%), followed by Lentils (mosur) dried & shelled(70.59%), tur (61.16%), and Other dried & shelled leguminous vegetablesother than split (59.19%).

(ii) Indias ExportsCountrywise: Country wise export trend of pulsesduring the period 2003-04 and 2004-05 reveals that Bangladesh continues to bethe leading export market followed by Sri Lanka, UAE, USA, Nepal, SaudiArabia and Kuwait. A glance at the table further reveals that a remarkable


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growth was witnessed during the period in respect of Egypt (2179.49%),Pakistan (1980.65%), Italy (1209.52%), Sri Lanka (581.80%), UAE (90.06%),Kuwait (72%), Malaysia (58.38%) and Saudi Arabia (54.06%). On the contrary,the markets showing a declining trend during the period include Canada

(11.85%), and Nepal (3.32%).

Export strategy

There is a strong felt need to boost production of pulses crops so as to be self sufficient not only in meeting domestic requirement but also having sufficientsurplus for export by evolving a suitable strategy. Some of the steps to be

initiated in this respect inter alia include (i) Increasing area under cultivation of pulses, (ii) Intensifying research by the major research bodies like IARI,Institute of Pulses Crops for finding high yielding varieties for cultivating of

pulses crops, (iii) Grant of subsidy to the farmers in the form of inputs andavailability of easy credits, (iv) Providing facility of crop insurance and (v)Assuring of reasonable minimum support price to the farmers.

Variety wise major pulse crops growing states in India


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VARIERTY MAJOR GROWING STATES

Gram - MP, Rajasthan, UP, HaryanaMasoor- MP, UP, Bihar Arhar (Rabi) - MP, UP, Bihar Arhar (Kharif) - Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, GujaratUrad(Kharif) - Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West

Bengal, OrissaMoong(Kharif/Rabi) - Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Bihar,Tamil Nadu, UP Others* (Rabi/Kharif) Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,Rajasthan, UP, MP and Bihar Note: Rabi and Kharif pertain to sowing and harvesting period of pulse crops.While in the case of Rabi, sowing period starts from September-October and

harvesting from February -March. On the other hand, in respect of Kharif,sowing period starts from June-July and harvesting between September-October. Includes Rajmah, Moth, Lobia and Peas, etc.

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