Chana output estimate revised down

The country's chana output may fall short of the earlier estimates by 10 per cent for the current calender year.

According to market sources, the drop will be mainly because of decline in acreage and poor rainfall in the major producing regions of the country.

Madhya Pradesh, the largest producer of chana, is expected to see a drop of over 20 per cent at less than 2 million tonnes against the average 2.4 million tonnes. Similarly, states such as Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are likely to produce less crop.

 

ON A DECLINE Estimated crop in 2008
State	Production in mn tonnes
Rajasthan	0.7-0.8
Madhya Pradesh	1.9-2.0
Maharashtra	0.5-0.6
Andhra Pradesh	0.4-0.5
Karnataka	0.4-0.5
Uttar Pradesh	0.2-0.3
Others	0.2-0.3
Market sources

Suresh Agarwal, chairman of Madhya Pradesh Dal Udyog Mahasangh, said, "The crop this year is expected to be around 5 million tonnes instead of the earlier estimates of 5.5-5.6 million tonnes." Last year, the country had produced close to 6 million tonnes.

Refuting the reports that output may drop to 4.5 million tonnes, commodity analysts from Angel Commodities said that output would be lower but not that low.

The Indian Institute of Pulses Research had earlier predicted a 15-20 per cent drop in chana acreage. Marketmen said that if it rained in Rajasthan, crop could see some improvement. The country is expected to have a carry-forward stocks of less than 400,000 tonnes.

Arrivals from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have already begun. Next week, it will pick up momentum. Crop from Madhya Pradesh will start arriving within a fortnight, while harvesting in Rajasthan will begin in March.

The country consumes around 6 million tonnes of chana annually. It imports the commodity from Australia and Tanzania. The import costs from the two countries are in the range of Rs 2,350-2,400 a quintal.

Agarwal said once the crop arrived in full swing, the market would see a correction. The decline would be around Rs 100 a quintal, he added.

On the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, the near month futures of chana has scale up to Rs 2,300 a quintal from Rs 2,150 a quintal a fortnight ago.