Tur dal may remain over Rs100 per kg this year

Nagpur: Fresh raw tur has begun reaching the market from farms and is fetching a price from Rs88 to 90 a kg. This means dal is going to be well above Rs100/kg even in 2016. Raw tur is processed to make dal which is the edible form. With harvests to continue for over a month only, traders say rates of raw tur may not come down by more than Rs5 to 10 a kg. This will easily keep tur dal rates more than Rs100/kg.
At present tur dal rates have eased to Rs150 a kg, in last one week from Rs170 a kg earlier. Given the trend in raw tur prices, it is estimated that the rates of dal may not settle below Rs130/kg, trade sources said.
Raw tur has now settled at Rs90 a kg after touching Rs100, in the farm produce markets. By January end, a substantial amount supply reaches the market but the flow has come down to half this year, sources added.
In the same period last year, around 800 quintals of tur was reaching Wani Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) daily. The average this year is 300-400, said Roshan Kothari, a director at this APMC in Yavatmal district. Expecting a better price in future, even farmers are holding on to their produce, he said.
Suresh Bhojwani, a dal miller and former president of Nag Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce (NVCC), said raw tur rates were not expected to go fall more than Rs5 to 10 a kg, even as more supplies reach. Harvesting is completed by February, though farmers continue to sell the produce in batches after that. “This year, even the government is purchasing tur from open market, which is keeping the rates up,” he said.
However, Kothari of Wani APMC, said government purchases were not making much difference. “The agencies like Food Corporation of India (FCI) are going by the land records and purchase are capped at only one quintal per acre. So if a farmer has 10 acres of land and tur is grown in three, FCI will not purchase more than 3 quintals from him,” he said.
Since government is purchasing in small quantities only to ensure its presence in the market, it may not make much difference to the price trends. Moreover, government centres have not opened at all the markets, said Kothari.
Pratap Motwani, secretary of The Itwari Grain and Seeds Merchants Association, said the output was expected to be lower than last season. The total production has been pegged at 22 lakh tonnes as against 28 lakh tonnes in previous season due to which the rates are only going to increase.
In a nutshell
* Raw tur at Rs90 a kg, which takes dal rates to Rs130
* Raw tur rates not expected to fall by more than Rs10 a kg
* This will keep dal prices above Rs100 a kg later in the year
* Output estimated to be down by 6 lakh tonnes at 22 lakh tonnes
* Farmers holding on to stocks to get better rates