El Nino may raise pulses prices

New Delhi: If El Nino weighs on the monsoon and rains are deficient, the production of pulses is likely to get severely hit and affect the households’ budget the way onion brought tears to the common man, says an Assocham study. 

 

The major pulse producing states Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which together account for about 80 per cent of the total production, may witness less rainfall, affecting its output and prices.  

“India’s high dependence on imports, higher prices and declining per capital availability of pulses have been matters of concern,” it said. 

 

The demand supply mismatch of pulses is putting further pressure on the prices of this staple food and therefore, timely precautionary steps need to be taken, it said.  Despite the rise in production in the last three years, domestic demand is likely to continue to be more than the supplies in coming years, the Assocham study added. After four years of normal and above normal monsoon, India is expected to have below normal Monsoon this year with rainfall projected to be at 95 per cent.