"There has been a rise in the retail prices of pulses over the year. The main reason is the reduced availability following a decline in production of pulses from 19.25 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 17.20 million tonnes in 2014-15 on account of adverse weather conditions," he told the Lok Sabha.
He said the other factors responsible for high prices of pulses are hoarding, rise in transportation cost and black-marketing.
14 state governments have carried out 14,134 raids resulting in the seizure of 1,30,606 tonnes of pulses.