Production of Kharif pulses, including tur and urad, may dip up to 30 per cent this year due to inadequate rainfall after the sowing, says an expert.
Lack of rainfall in Maharashtra, north Karnataka and north Andhra Pradesh, the major producing areas of pulses, during June-July, just after the sowing, damaged the early seedlings, according to Karvy Comtrade’s Chowda Reddy. This early damage will affect the final output by 25-30 per cent, he added.
According to government data, the production for tur, which is grown during Kharif season, is expected to be 2.37 million tonnes (MT), against 3.09 MT last year, down 23.3 per cent.
Urad output for 2008-09 is likely to be 0.82 MT, against 1.15 MT last year, a fall of 28.69 per cent. Moong output is expected to decline to 0.77 MT from 1.26 MT last season.
In 2008-09, total production of kharif pulses, including moong, is estimated at 4.72 MT, against 6.45 MT last year. The government, which had set a target of 5.94 MT production of kharif pulses, hopes that production will go up this year by the time the final output comes next year.
By the time the fourth advance estimates is released, the impression is that the production will improve. The first advance estimates are always little provisional, Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar had said recently.
Till September 25, sowing areas for urad declined this season to 21.56 lakh hectares (LH), compared to 27.53 LH in the same period last year. The arhar acreage dipped to 34.34 LH from 38.54 LH in the review period.