In a move to help the farmers, clear surplus stock and give farmers better price for their produce, the Centre has lifted the export ban on certain varieties of pulses. India had banned export of pulses in 2006, which was extended from time to time as domestic production was lower than the demand.
After the pulses crisis of 2015, when retail prices for toor had touched Rs 200 per kg, the government stepped in by creating a 20 lakh tonne buffer stock and higher support price for farmers to encourage cultivation of the key protein source for vegetarians.
The government had procured pulses for the buffer stock it had created to rein in the skyrocketing prices two years ago. The bumper production last year had led to depressed prices with pulses trading below minimum support price at a few wholesale markets.
However, traders can export pulses only after taking permission from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The country’s pulses production had touched a record of 22.4 million tonne in 2016-17 crop year (July-June) as against 16.35 million tonne in the previous year.
With wholesale prices slipping below MSP, traders had demanded opening up of exports to remove price distortions ahead of the arrival of the new crop in the market.