India's government buffer stock of pulses has risen to a record 4.5 million tonnes, well above the 3.5 million-tonne norm, and will be used to curb price rises if the kharif harvest or the coming rabi crop falls short, the Financial Express reported on Sunday.

The reserve is built mainly by procurement from farmers under the agriculture ministry's Price Support Scheme (PSS), through the cooperative Nafed and NCCF, with some imports under the Price Stabilisation Fund. It holds about 1.95 million tonnes of gram (chana), 1 million tonnes of tur, 0.88 million tonnes of moong and 0.56 million tonnes of masur (lentils), which sources said would be offloaded in a calibrated way through open-market sales and supplies to states for PM-Poshan, ICDS and the public distribution system.

"The time to initiate market intervention programmes for pulses will be decided once we get a clear picture of the impact of El Niño on crops for both kharif as well as forthcoming rabi or winter crop prospects," an official told the paper. Officials are watching for a fall in output after a rainfall shortfall in the growing regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra. Kharif pulses, including tur, urad and moong, covered 11.84 million hectares as of 18 September, 1.42 per cent less than a year earlier; harvest is expected to begin at the end of October.

Retail inflation in pulses was 3.61 per cent year on year in August. Average retail prices of tur, gram and urad stood at Rs 123.43, Rs 88.23 and Rs 122.63 a kilogram on Saturday, according to the consumer affairs department's price monitoring cell, up 7.19, 0.79 and 7.42 per cent on the year. Officials said there had been no unusual rise because the import policy is stable.

Duty-free imports of tur and urad have been extended to 31 March 2027; yellow peas carry a 30 per cent duty to the end of FY27 and lentils 10 per cent. India imports about 18–20 per cent of the pulses it consumes, from Canada, Russia, Brazil, Myanmar and Africa.

Under the PSS, central agencies may procure up to 25 per cent of a pulse or oilseed crop and must dispose of it within nine months of the scheme closing, to avoid holding costs and quality loss. The consumer affairs department has asked the agriculture department to relax that nine-month norm for the tur and chana bought from farmers in 2025-26, so the stock can be held until the kharif and rabi picture is clear.

Reported by Sandip Das for the Financial Express.

Source: Financial Express Agriculture