Pulse Sowing Hit by Excessive Rains in Key Producing States
06-Aug-2025 08:59 PM
New Delhi. In comparison to last year, during the current Kharif season, due to many reasons, the sowing area of pulse crops has decreased and the pace of sowing has also slowed down.
Actually, on one hand, there is uncontrolled import of Tuvar and Urad from foreign countries and due to increased supply and availability of these in the domestic sector, there is an atmosphere of softness or stability in the prices and secondly, in the areas where sowing was yet to be done, due to torrential rains, the fields were either flooded or the moisture content increased more than required.
Sowing of pulses had started with great enthusiasm in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and it seemed that the area would go far ahead of last year, but later its area stagnated to a great extent and at the national level, the area of both the major pulses - Tuvar and Urad has come down to less than last year.
In some places in Karnataka, sowing of Tuvar is still going on. The total production area of pulses has reached 101.20 lakh hectares, which is 30 hectares less than last year's 101.50 lakh hectares and 28.40 lakh hectares behind the normal average area of 129.60 lakh hectares.
It will not be easy to bridge such a huge gap because there is less time left for sowing and the condition of the fields in the producing areas is also not conducive for sowing.
Although the production area of pulses is not much behind in this regard compared to last year, it is important to note that in the month of August last year, the conditions for sowing were quite conducive.
The decreasing enthusiasm of farmers towards the cultivation of Tuvar is a matter of concern because it is the most important pulse crop of the Kharif season. Due to its continued cheap import in large quantities from Myanmar and African countries, the pressure on the domestic market price has increased.
In Myanmar, new Tuvar goods have been arriving for a long time, while now the time has come for harvesting and preparation of the new crop in African countries as well.
There is also a huge import of urad from Myanmar. According to government data, the production area of tuvar has come down from 41.10 lakh hectares to 38.30 lakh hectares and the sowing area of urad has fallen from 19.10 lakh hectares to 18.60 lakh hectares.
Moong is not imported in the country and its minimum support price is also the highest among pulses crops, so Indian farmers are still interested in its cultivation. The area under moong in Rajasthan is ahead of last year.