Question : Import of Arhar Dal

(a) whether the wholesale prices of Arhar Dal have crossed the minimum support level set by the Government after a gap of 2.5 years;
(b) if so, the factors attributed for price rise in pulses, including Arhar Dal and the steps taken to stabilise the price of pulses in the country;
(c) whether the Government has allowed import of Arhar Dal from Mozambique, Myanmar and a few African countries and if so, the details thereof during the last three years;
(d) whether the Government has asked NAFED to offload 2 lakh tonne of Arhar Dal in the open market and raised the import limit for private traders to help increase the availability and check price rise;
(e) whether the Government has enough buffer stock of pulses, including Arhar Dal, if so, the details thereof; and
(f) the details of the steps taken/being taken by the Government to reduce dependence on imported pulses?

THE MINISTER OF STATE
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI DANVE RAOSAHEB DADARAO)

(a) & (b) : Monthly average wholesale price of Arhar (Tur) for the month of June, 2019 was around ?5,521/quintal whereas Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Tur for 2018-19 Kharif season is ?5,675/quintal.

The prices of pulses is influenced by various factors including production, gap between demand and supply, increase in demand because of rise in population and per capita income change in food habits, etc.

Government has taken various measures including initiatives for increasing production and productivity of pulses through National Food Security Mission (NFSM); promulgating appropriate Minimum Support Price (MSP) to incentivize production; creation of pulses buffer of upto 2 million tonnes and calibrated releases from this buffer from time to time; etc., to ensure availability and moderate its prices. Further, Government has also signed a MoU with Mozambique in July, 2016 for assured supply of Tur and other pulses. In addition, trade policy with respect to pulses are suitably amended from time to time to appropriately regulate availability of pulses.


(c) & (d) : Import of Arhar dal is allowed under Quantitative Restriction. Government has raised the import limit on Tur under Quantitative Restriction from 2 Lakh MT (LMT) to 4 LMT for the year 2019-20. In addition, Government has signed a MoU with Mozambique in July, 2016 for assured supply of Tur and other pulses. Further, Government has decided to release 2 LMT of Tur (whole) available in the buffer stock of pulses under the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) to States/UTs as well as through open market operations to improve domestic availability and facilitate price stability of Tur.

(e) : As on 4.7.19, balance stock of Tur in buffer under PSF is around 6.13 Lakh MT.

(f) : Government has taken various measures to improve domestic availability and reduce dependence on imports including initiatives for increasing production and productivity of pulses through NFSM, promulgating appropriate MSP to incentivize production, using trade policy instrument appropriately to facilitate better price realization for farmers, etc.

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