The IPGA-organised webinar on Lentils focused on key aspects like production, trade’s perspective of stock availability, expected imports and price outlook
As the harvesting season for pulses lies ahead in India, India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) organised a webinar on Lentils covering key aspects like production of forthcoming crop, trade’s perspective of stock availability, expected imports and price outlook.
Moderated by Anurag Tulshan, MD Esarco Exim, Convenor – East Zone, IPGA, the panel included Dr. S K Malhotra, Agriculture Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India; Sunil Kumar Singh, Additional MD, NAFED; Rakesh Khemka, Managing Director, Uma Exports; Peter Wilson, Managing Director, Wilson International Trade, Australia, and Rav Kapoor, CEO & Director, ETG Commodities Inc., Canada.
Providing an outlook about the production of lentils in India, Dr Malhotra expressed that pulses are the primary sector for GoI. “In the past, say 2015-16 production level was only 16 mn tonnes against required 25 mn tonnes. With a roadmap in place thereon, we are near self-sufficient. Yellow pea and lentil however remain deficit. To date, 3.7 lakh hectares area has been sown so far for lentil against a target of 1.4mn hectare area of sowing. The speed of sowing is faster as compared to last year; nearly double compared to the same time last year. This is due to the 80 per cent of reservoirs having the full capacity and moisture content being in favourable conditions. During the monsoons this year, 9 per cent excess rainfall was received in the Kharif season. Hence, the area to be covered will be more. Our target of lentil production is 1.6 mn tonnes this year.”
He further urged the states to distribute biofortified varieties of lentil. He added, “All the states are told that we must promote lentils, especially the new varieties seeds which are to be made available to the farmers. Pusa Ageti Masoor provides 65 per cent high iron content; double than the other varieties. IPL220 provides 73 ppm of iron and 51 ppm of zinc. I urge the bodies to pick up and make these varieties available to the farmers. Targeting the rice fallow area is something we are looking at. IMD has predicted encouraging reports of weather during the yield season. Frost damage also occurs, which may damage the crops. We are alarming the farmers well in advance to safeguard the crops. We recommend that they must practice mulching to save water content.”
Presenting a perspective on the procurement of lentils while paying heed to meet both MSP for farmers and optimum price for the consumers, SK Singh elucidated, “The last five years had seen a different picture of production, procurement, and supply chain. We were a country that saw a crisis in 2015-16 but still provided 1kg to 195 mn families for 9 months. West Bengal, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand are major consuming states of Masoor. In my view, in India, there is a demand of 1.2-2mn tonnes annually for lentils. Seeing the estimated production at 1.6 mn tonnes this year, there will be certain demand from domestic and exports both. No farmer will be deprived of MSP. We will further motivate the farmers to sow more. We have sufficient funds, infrastructure in place and in case the MSP drops below 50 per cent, we will buy every grain even from farm gates. We have taken advanced steps. There shall be production growth. Last five years averagely the production stood at 1.25 mn tonnes. That is the reason why we had large dependence on imports. Farmers are happy that the price is good and above the MSP.”
Echoing the views from an importer’s perspective Rakesh Khemka, said, “Lentils is a majorly traded pulse. 0.75 mn tonnes of lentil were imported in India in 2019-20. We expect annual demand for lentils at 1.9-2mn tonnes in India. The imports will be higher by end of March, around 1.05 mn tonnes in 2020-21. We are closely watching the government policies to decide upon the future course of imports. Port prices currently stand at Rs 51 to 52 a kg as of now. If the import duties however are increased post December 31, the price per kilo of lentils will rise by about Rs 4 at the ports. Post-harvest, we are expecting 1.6mn tonnes of production of lentil in India, which hints at bringing down the price per kilo at ports to Rs 51 or 50.”
Canada seeing India as the top market for its lentils exports, Rav Kapoor while speaking about the exports to the country moving forward said, “The carry numbers for 2-3 years are in an excess of 800,000 tonnes. Canadian farmers had pre-committed 1/3 of the crop. Due to the COVID pandemic, the government also provided a lot of support to farmers with cash. On the back of these factors, Canadian farmers will not participate aggressively in exporting the produce. We don’t see any slump in prices in Canada. The Canadian farmers are not letting loose of the production of lentils.”
After Bangladesh, India is also a crucial market in lentil exports for Australia. Stating the lentil export scenario moving forward for Australia, Peter Wilson noted, “We have seen enormous innovation this year. 2021 is going to be better than in the past 10 months. It has made us more innovative. Australia is a volatile country in terms of weather conditions hence the farmers here need to be innovative in retaining moisture. Australia is blessed to be the growers of the best lentils in the world. It is a very big crop, although slow in growth process but they present high yields. Australian farmers’ capacity is pretty good in terms of storage and finances. Logistics here however is pretty tight. There is some insecurity due to Covid as imports are down. Farmers are not necessarily playing boldly and are very defensive about the price of the lentils. We are facing a few challenges from China and Bali. If we do see some pressure in outside markets, China is worth watching.”