Prices of pulses like moong, arhar and urad are likely to decline in coming months on good crop prospects due to timely and good monsoon, traders said on Thursday.
Also, reports of downtrend in global markets pulled down domestic prices. Pulses acreage in the Kharif season until Friday was 10.58 million hectare, up 20% from a year ago.
Recently, agriculture secretary PK Basu said pulses output in 2010-11 is expected to touch 16.5 million tonne.
?Moong prices have already fallen by over Rs 700-800 to Rs 4,000-4,900 per 100 kilogram since the beginning of this month and downtrend is likely to continue with the increase in new crop supplies,? said Arun Kumar, proprietor, Sumitra Trading Co.
He also said new crop arrivals have started in all major producing centres of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and in Akola, Jalna and Narayenpeth markets in Maharashtra.
Prices of moong in Gulbarga, in Karnataka, fell over Rs 1,000 per 100 kg in the fortnight ended Friday, he said. Also, new crop arrivals have started in Kekri area of Rajasthan.
Moong acreage until Friday was at 2.5 million hectare compared with 2.2 million hectare a year ago.
Prices of urad Rangoon SQ fell by Rs 300 to Rs 5,500-5,550 per 100 kg in the last 25 days as stockists sold tracking weakness in overseas markets, another trader said.
Supply of new urad crops should commence by mid-September and prices are likely to decline further, a mill owner said. Major urad producing states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh received good monsoon. Until Friday, urad acreage was at 2.18 million hectare compared with 1.96 million hectare
a year ago, government data showed.