Chana may harden on lower output, arrival

Chana prices are expected to remain firm in short term on reports of lower production and poor arrivals, traders here said Monday.

As a result of these factors, gram prices have already started rising, with Monday's opening price at Rs 2,900 per 100 kg. They are seen touching Rs 3,000 in the near horizon.

Chana (gram or chickpea), an important variety of pulses, is a rabi crop mainly sown in September-November and harvested in February-March. This year it was sown in an area of over 1.2 mn ha in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan accounts for 12-13 per cent of the country's gram output. Last year, its production of gram was 1.1 mn tn. If local traders are to be believed, its production this year would be lower by around 15-20 per cent.

"Though there was increased sowing of the crop this season in parts of Rajasthan, the frost and extended cold wave conditions have hit the crop in a big way and we expect a production of between 770,000-800,000 tonnes this year," Birbal Bijrania, a local trader here said.

Gram is best suited to areas having low to moderate rainfall and a mild cold weather. Excessive rain soon after sowing or at flowering stage could do a lot of harm to this crop. Severe cold is injurious, and is very harmful. Hailstorms also cause much damage to the crop.

Echoing similar views Rajendra Natani, a local trader, said that excessive cold climatic conditions have hit the crop.

"In the beginning when the crop was sown things were looking perfect for a record production and we were anticipating a jump of at least 5 per cent in gram production. However, according to our revised estimates now the gram production would be lower by 15-20 per cent from last year," Natani added.

Gram prices have already touched Rs 2,900 per 100 kg in Jaipur on Monday and traders feel they would cross Rs 3,000 in next few days.

"Slack arrivals of new crop in commodity yards coupled with reports of lower production are mainly responsible for prices going up and this trend is likely to continue at least till the end of March when arrivals are expected to increase," Natani said.

"Increased buying by stockists in the wake of lower arrivals is expected to harden gram prices and I feel they may increase by another 5 per cent in next 10-15 days. However, they should decline after that""sometimes by last week of March""when its arrivals increase," Ramcharan Gupta, a trader said.