Farmers eye different crops due to low price

Centre falls victim of its own successful campaign to boost pulses output

New Delhi, March 21: Millions of Indian farmers look set to switch from growing pulses and oilseeds after a government campaign to boost output became a victim of its own success by flooding markets with the crops, used in everything from fragrant curries to sticky desserts.

Storehouses are overflowing with commodities such as lentils and soybeans after waves of farmers answered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call last summer to ramp up local production to cut a hefty import bill, driving prices sharply lower.

A shift to planting crops such as sugarcane and wheat could drag on global prices in those markets as supply swells, while raising the spectre of a swing to a shortage further down the line of the oilseeds and protein-rich pulses that are a staple of Indian cuisine.

“If farmers keep getting lower prices then they will shift to other crops and the entire cycle of shortages, price rises and higher imports will get repeated,” said Pravin Dongre, chairman of India Pulses and Grains Association.

Local prices for oilseeds have plunged around 40 per cent in the last six months, while pulses have dropped by nearly a third.

That came after farmers lifted pulse production to what is expected to be a record of around 22 million tonnes in the 2016/17 crop year that ends in June, up 35 per cent from a year earlier. Oilseed output is seen soaring 33 per cent to nearly 34 million tonnes.

Farmers and industry officials said a government plan to buy 2 million tonnes of pulses at guaranteed prices was not enough to support the market, adding that the volume was too small and that oilseeds should be included as well.

The government declined to make official comment on the issue, although some staff told Reuters that New Delhi could not do more due to factors such as cost, limited warehousing and a lack of transportation. They asked not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media.

And the programme doesn't appear to have helped Bapurao Suryawanshi, who owns 36 acres of land in Maharashtra. “I was waiting in a queue outside a government procurement centre for six days to sell my pigeon peas,” said Suryawanshi, who stopped growing sugarcane to churn out the peas.

— Reuters