Be ready to pay more for tur dal, as the supply picture turns gloomy

The tur dal (lentil) market is extremely tight due to insufficient supply; imported dal will arrive soon but will have little impact on the market. Because of this, retail prices are moving upward and are quoted in the range of Rs 130 to Rs 140 per kg.

Whether farmers get a good price or not remains uncertain at this stage, but what is certain is that due to a short supply to mandis, be it in Latur or Sholapur in Maharashtra, Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, the prices are above the minimum support price, said Nitinbhai Vani, production manager at Rentiofood.

According to his experience, if a miller wants to buy 12 trucks of tur, he can only buy one truck, giving a clear idea of the magnitude of the demand-supply gap. On Friday evening, the closing price of tur in mandis was quoted at Rs 8,100 per quintal.

He says that one should not be shocked if the price goes beyond Rs 9,000 per quintal. For the records, the Union government has set the MSP at Rs 6,600 per quintal.

The reason for the shortage is that farmers are gradually shifting away from cultivation of pulses in favour of high-value cash crops. The second reason, according to Vani, is that standing crops were ruined by unseasonal October and November rains in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The Centre is quite aware that production of tur dal is expected to be around 38.9 lakh metric tonnes this time, which is 43.4 lakh metric tonnes down from last year. That is why the Union Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh announced in January that to meet the domestic shortfall, the government will be importing 10 lakh metric tons of lentils.

Even after this assurance, the prices are constantly moving upwards.

Tur dal production will remain 9.8% lower than last year, according to early projections from the Union Agriculture Ministry. The crop is badly damaged in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.

Imports from Sudan and Burma will begin soon, but they will have little impact on the domestic supply and prices because the quantity is in the thousands rather than lakhs of tonnes, according to Vrushil Patel, Director of Lakshmi Protin Products Pvt. Ltd.

As of today, the wholesale market for tur is on fire, which means that customers have to shell out more than an extra buck.

According to Patel's ground information, this time the production is comparatively low in Saurashtra, which is adding fuel to prices in the Gujarat market.

Recently, the Central government extended its zero tariff facility to imports of lentils from Australia, which will be applicable until March 2024. But the benefit of this facility will be felt only in July, when the imports start coming in.

The government is estimating 38 lakh metric tons of tur production, but the market is skeptical about anything beyond 35 lakh metric tonnes. This is why some major players have cornered the tur stock. They will seize the opportunity and exploit the market when prices skyrocket and touch the moon, according to sources.