The tur (red gram) growers and traders in Karnataka, who had enjoyed a windfall when there was a spike in the price of the pulses during the past few months, are now in for a shock with prices retracing their path. The sharp drop in prices has come as a bolt from the blue for farmers in the state.
The farmers, who had lost almost half the crop this year due to heavy rains in September and foggy weather in November 2009, are now having to face up to a big shock as prices of the commodity has fallen over 40 per cent, to around Rs 3,800 to Rs 4,500 per quintal as on February 3, compared to the December 2009 prices.
The year 2009-10 has been one of the worst years for Karnataka’s tur growers. The farmers were first hit by the delay in monsoons and later by excess rains in September. As a result of this, the area under tur dal crop came down 39 per cent to 350,000 hectares in the state. This means a production loss of close to 50 per cent of the state’s total output or 1.6 million tonnes.
Karnataka accounts for close to 20 per cent of the national area under tur cultivation. For the present year the sowing was done in 580,000 hectares in the districts of Gulbarga, Bidar, Bijapur, Bagalkot and Raichur among others.
In an effort to protect farmers from severe losses due to the sudden drop in the prices of tur dal, the farmers of Gulbarga have urged the government to intervene and stabilise the prices immediately. The farmers, under the banner of Karnataka Pradesh Red Gram Growers’ Association (KPRGGA), Gulbarga, have requested chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to release Rs 25 crore from the revolving fund to Tur Development Board (TDB) to enable them to purchase tur from the open market.
“The drop in the prices of tur is not linked to production. It is mainly because of the nexus between the middlemen and traders, the prices have come down. There is an urgent need for the government to intervene and stabilise the prices, so that both farmers and the consumer will benefit,” Basavaraj Ingin, president, KPRGGA said.
Meanwhile, the Tur Development Board has stepped in to the open market and fixed Rs 4,500 as the base price for tur and started purchases directly. “This year we have entered the market directly and are competing with the private traders, instead of opening procurement centres. Our move has helped arrest the falling prices,” R T Kamat, managing director, TDB said.
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He said the board has also decided to enter the retail market for tur dal with its own brand to compete with the retail traders. “We wish to market tur dal in consumer packets of 1 kg to 10 kg and start selling in major cities. To begin with, we will open a sales outlet in Bangalore and depending on the response expand the business to other cities in the state,” he said.
The board has invited the public to suggest a suitable brand name for its tur dal and has announced a prize of Rs 15,000 for the selected name, he said adding the product would be introduced during Ugadi festival. To begin with it aims to purchase Rs 5 crore worth of tur dal from farmers and use it for retail initiative, Kamat said.
The board has earmarked Rs 50 lakh budget for the marketing initiatives. The board has a cash reserve of Rs 10 crore and would spend from internal sources for the new business venture, he said.