Prices likely to touch Rs 150 per kg, say growers, traders.
The recent floods have devastated tur dal crops in Karnataka. The roots of the crop, which cannot tolerate standing water in the fields for 24 to 48 hours, have rotten and have started wilting. It is feared it would be possible to save only 20 per cent of the standing crops. Crops grown on elevated area stand a better chance of survival. With output being grim, traders and growers see tur dal prices shooting up to Rs 150 per kg in the coming days.
For tur dal growers in the state, it is one of the worst years. Initially, due to delayed monsoon, sowing has suffered. After that, there was a long dry spell and the crops wilted. However, some late sowing after revival of monsoon raised hopes of a better output. But all these hopes were washed away in the torrential rains that caused floods in major tur-growing districts of Gulbarga, and neighbouring Bidar and Raichur.
“There is unprecedented damage to crop. In the last 60 years, such a devastation had not been witnessed. During the 1973 drought, there was major loss of tur, but even that is not comparable to what we are seeing this year,” said Basavaraj Ingin, state president, Karnataka Pradesh Red Gram Growers Association. According to him prices may reach Rs 150 per kg. “Arrivals will be severely hit. So, prices will no doubt shoot up,” said a Bangalore-based traded.
India sows tur on 3.5 million hectares, of which Karnataka accounts for 550,000 hectares. Of the 2.5 million tonnes (MT) of the annual production of tur dal in India, 300,000 tonnes comes from Karnataka, mainly from Gulbarga. Last year, the state’s output fell to about 200,000 tonnes due to the lack of rainfall. This year, if the worst fears come true, output may just about manage to cross 60,000 tonnes, though official assessment is still under progress.
The government should take up relief operations on a war footing, said Ingin. According to him the compensation of Rs 2,000 per hectare as announced by the government is grossly inadequate. “If the government pays Rs 2,000 per hectare as per the Nabard guidelines, it does not even cover the fertiliser cost and labour charges. Compensation should be hiked to Rs 25,000 per hectare for the flood-hit farmer to survive and be in a position to sow and cultivate next year,” he said. Since tur and other pulses are the only cash crops that can be grown in the rain-fed areas of north-interior Karnataka, crop failure to this extant leave farmers with no options, he added.