Pulses’ prices to ease from July due to higher imports: Official

India also is expecting ample imports of pulses from east African nations in the months of August, September and October that will help to plug a demand-supply gap, softening prices

New Delhi A prolonged spell of inflation in pulses amid globally tight supplies stoked by the El Nino weather pattern will likely ease from July on the back of improved availability, according to the government’s assessment of markets, a senior official said on Friday.

Food inflation, driven by lentils and cereals, has been sticky in the world’s second biggest producer of wheat, rice and sugarcane, as extreme weather and a patchy monsoon shriveled crops last year. (Representational image)

Food inflation, driven by lentils and cereals, has been sticky in the world’s second biggest producer of wheat, rice and sugarcane, as extreme weather and a patchy monsoon shriveled crops last year.

“The good news is El Nino is over and La Nina is set to take over. A good monsoon will boost sowing from July onwards. That will have a salutary effect on market sentiment,” Union consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare said.

India also is expecting ample imports of pulses from east African nations in the months of August, September and October that will help to plug a demand-supply gap, softening prices, according to Khare.

The top bureaucrat said the 2023 El Nino, a weather pattern whose effects ripple around the globe, including poor rains in India, was the key reason for a price spiral in three widely consumed pulses varieties: pigeon pea (tur), black gram (urad), and chickpea (chana).

The government has held several meetings with diplomatic officials from Mozambique, a key supplier of pigeon pea, and is expecting sufficient quantities of imports in the coming months.

Shipments from Mozambique had taken a hit last year due to rivalries between commodity firms in that country. “They (Mozambique) have said they are cognizant of the situation and opening more three-four more ports so that supplies to India are not held up,” a second official said, requesting anonymity.

The government also expects supplies to speed up from Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania and Kenya, a region in east Africa that supplies pulses to India.

Prices of the three varieties have remained stable but on the higher side through the year. Although headline consumer inflation eased to a 12-month low of 4.75% in May from a year ago, food prices edged up 8.69%, according to latest official data. Inflation in pulses rose 17.1% in May, against an increase of 16.8% in the previous month.

Retail prices of gram stood at ₹87.74 a kg on June 13, up 17% from a year ago, while the rate for pigeon pea rose to ₹160 a kg from ₹126 a year ago, a rise of 27%.

India imports up to 15% of its pulses demand annually and the country spent nearly $4 billion on imports in 2023-24, making it a volatile group of commodities.

Shortly after the Modi government assumed office during its first term in 2014, it focused farm and trade policies to raise pulses output to avoid reliance on imports. Long-term import deals with nations, such as Mozambique, were signed to hedge against rise in global commodity prices.

According to the agriculture ministry’s data, a campaign to distribute improved seeds raised pulses productivity by 34.8%, from 727 kg/hectare in 2018-19 to 980 kg/hectare in 2021-22. This led to a fall in imports but extreme weather can still ruin crops and stoke prices.