iGrain India - New Delhi. The Union Agriculture Ministry has set an ambitious target of producing 45 lakh tonnes of Arhar (Tuvar) at the national level for the Kharif season of 2024-25, which is 11-12 lakh tonnes more than the government production estimate of 33-34 lakh tonnes for 2023-24.
The sowing of tur is going to start soon and farmers of other major producing states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are very excited about its cultivation because its market price is running at a very high level.
This time good rainfall is expected in the southwest monsoon season, due to which farmers will not face difficulty in sowing tur.
The harvesting and preparation of the next new crop of tur will start in December-January. For the 2023-24 season, the government has set the minimum support price of tur at Rs 7000 per quintal, while its price has reached a high of Rs 11500-12000 per quintal in the markets of major producing states.
Due to this, the producers are getting attractive income and hence there is a strong possibility of increasing enthusiasm and attraction of farmers towards the cultivation of this important pulse of the Kharif season.
For the last two years, the production of tur has been affected due to various reasons and especially adverse weather conditions and the outbreak of natural disasters, due to which the gap between its demand and supply has increased significantly.
According to industry and trade analysts, this gap has increased to 12-15 lakh tonnes. The Department of Consumer Affairs has implemented a mandatory rule to declare the stock of pulses like tur, urad, moong, lentil, peas and Desi gram on a weekly basis from April 15, 2024 so that its supply and availability situation can be improved and the rise in prices can be curbed.
During April 2023 to March 2024, India imported a little over 7.75 lakh tonnes of tur, which was 1.20 lakh tonnes less than the total import of 8.95 lakh tonnes during the entire period (April-March) of the financial year 2022-23.
The preparation for harvesting the new crop of tur in African countries is going to start in late July or early August and then its imports to India may increase.