Nagpur: The central government’s move to extend the deadline for allowing tur imports is expected to be another dampener for farmers of the region.
After facing heavy losses in cotton and soyabean, farmers of Vidarbha were banking on tur, the third major crop here that is intercropped with cotton and soyabean.
Last month, the government extended the permission for imports till December 31. This means the fresh supplies of the pulses will continue to reach the market till January at least when fresh crop also arrives in the market.
The move has already reduced the rates of raw tur in the open market by Rs 1,000 to 2,000 a quintal. As against Rs 8,500 to Rs8,700 a quintal tur is being quoted at Rs6,300 to Rs6,500 a quintal in the farm produce markets of the region.
The fresh crop from the field is expected to arrive next month. Once the arrivals begin, the rates are expected to fall even below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 6,000 a quintal, say traders as well as farm activists. This is because market will have enough domestic as well as imported supply.
Meanwhile, there has been a marginal decrease in the retail price of tur dal, which is processed from raw tur. Tur is mainly imported from Myanmar with some quantities also coming from African nations.
Farmers in large parts of the region are already complaining of a poor outlook in tur too. There are reports of delayed pod formation in the crops. A senior agriculture department official said the output may go down by at least 10%. Farmers on the other hand said the losses would be higher.
Veteran Shetkari Sangathana activist Vijay Jawandhia said, “there are reports that market price of tur have even touched Rs 5,400 a quintal in some pockets in Wardha. This is a direct impact of extending the import deadline.”
Jawandhia said once again the farmers will need MSP intervention for tur. If the new agriculture laws remove pulses from essential commodities, the government should also ensure farmers at least get a decent market rate.
“The importers too have been in losses due to last minute extension in deadline. This led to uncertainty and importers booked trades at higher rates as they were under an impression that the deadline would end. The first deadline was till March 31, which was extended till October end and now till December 31. This has left the traders in exporting countries enriched,” said Arpit Jain of Himalaya Agro Impex, a pulses trading company.
Sudhir Kothari, director of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) at Hinganghat, said rates were also down as National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), which also procures tur, was selling the stock at this juncture. This has further increased supply.
Kothari said the scenario was expected to impact the price fetched by farmers. Farmers said the rates need to be at least Rs 7,000 for them to get decent returns.