Prices may dip further once the harvest from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh hits markets in January
New Delhi: After moong, prices of arhar, a major rain-fed kharif crop, have plunged below support prices in major growing states such as Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh where the crop has reached markets.
The dip in wholesale prices follows a record crop due to a normal south-west monsoon and farmers increasing its acreage, taking a cue from retail prices which shot up to Rs200 per kg earlier this year.
On Wednesday, in several wholesale markets, arhar or pigeon pea, was sold by farmers at prices lower than the support prices announced by the centre. In Gulbarga district of Karnataka, average wholesale rates were Rs4,572 per quintal, lower than the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs5,050 per quintal, while in Gadag district prices were as low as Rs3,666 per quintal. In Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool, wholesale prices were Rs4,450 per quintal.
Worryingly, prices may dip further once the harvest from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh hits markets in January.
In September, the agriculture ministry estimated a record 4.3 million tonnes of arhar production for 2016-17, a 74% rise compared with the 2.46 million tonnes harvested last year when a widespread drought severely dented production and led to a spike in retail prices.
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