Pricey Indian pulses make open-export policy unfruitful in global market

Experts say difficult to meet both ends - farmers' welfare and promoting agricultural trade

Exports of Indian pulses are not growing despite a decade-old ban that was revoked in two steps last year. The reason, industry observers say, is the uncompetitive price of Indian pulses in the global market.

The unit price of exported pulses—mostly chickpeas better known as chole—has consistently risen from $0.84 per kg in 2013-14 to $1.43 per kg in 2017-18, the highest in the last five years. 

The quantity exported has dwindled from 346,000 million tonnes (mt) in 2013-14 to 109,000 mt in 2017-18 (till January). In value terms, exports show a declining trend from worth more than