Coup in Myanmar, lost crop in India pushes Urad prices to new high
Ahead of the four state elections, price of urad dal is posing a major concern with supplies being severely constrained in the wholesale market. The coup in Myanmar, traders say, have stopped the supply line of imports reaching the Indian markets which would have cooled the prices down. On Thursday, the Central government announced a 4 lakh tonne import quota of the lentil for the next financial year.
Mainly a kharif crop, Indian growers had reported 33.38 lakh hectares of the crop for the kharif 2020 season. However, heavy rains toward the end of August had queered the pitch for a good harvest with Madhya Pradesh — the largest producer of the beans — reporting extensive damage. A nearly dry July has had taken its toll on the crop before the final blow of excess rains toward the end of August came in.
After a brief slump due to lockdown-led demand destruction, wholesale prices of urad had crossed government-declared Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 6,000/- per quintal across the country. Prices of urad dal — a staple in South Indian delicacies like Dosa — have been hovering around the Rs 100/- per kg for most part of the season.
With around 1 lakh tonnes of import yet to reach India, the supply chain has been severely impacted as the military coup in Myanmar has put a stop to shipment.
Nitin Kalantari, the Latur-based dal miller and trader, pointed out that Myanmar is the only country other than India which produces the lentil. “This is the harvest season there but the military coup in the country has completely stopped all shipments coming from there,” he said.
At present urad dal across the country has crossed the Rs 100/- per kg mark with southern Indian states reporting an average price of Rs 120/-. Urad beans in the main wholesale markets of the country is now trading at Rs 6,700-6,800/- per quintal. Kalantari and other traders have ruled out any price correction in the near future till the situation in Myanmar settles down. Ahead of elections especially in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, this can be come as a surprise to many.
