India's reliance on pulses imports has increased, nearly doubling in the 2023-24 fiscal year to $3.74B. The surge in imports, estimated to be over 450 KT, is aimed at meeting domestic demand and controlling prices. As countries such as Brazil and Argentina start expanding acreages under black matpe or urad, India as the largest consumer of pulses expects an increase in imports from those nations. Presently, Myanmar has been the main supplier of urad to India. ‘Brazil has already started growing pulses. We expect at least some 50KT of black matpe coming from Brazil this year from June-July,’ said Bimal Kothari, Chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), the apex trade body for the sector. According to Igrain India, the urad imports registered an increase of around 19% during 2023-24 to around 620 KT over the previous year’s 524KT. In FY 21-22, India’s urad imports stood at 611KT, registering a 77% increase from previous year’s 344KT. India has extended the duty-free imports of urad till 31 Mar 2025 to deal with the pulse inflation. As per Agriculture Ministry’s second advance estimates, the urad output during 2023-24 was down at 205 KT compared to the previous year’s 263KT. Kharif production was down at 155 KT over previous year’s 176 KT, while the rabi (winter) output was lower at 505 KT over previous year’s 633KT, as per the second advance estimates. It must be highlighted that India is importing such vast quantities of pulses while Indian farmers, including those from Panjab, are willing to grow them domestically, provided they are assured of a Minimum Support Price (MSP). The govt. refuses to set MSP.
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