Russia, which is considering diversifying into urad and tur production, wants to strengthen pulse trade cooperation with India, the government said on Tuesday.

Russia’s Expansion into the Pulse Sector

A Russian delegation led by Deputy Minister Maxim Titov met with Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare on Monday to discuss the possibility of strengthening trade cooperation in the pulses sector.

According to a statement from India's consumer affairs department, Russia has recently emerged as a major source of masur (lentils) and yellow pea imports.

Aside from these two pulses, Russia plans to expand its pulse production to include urad (black matpe) and tur (pigeon pea), it said.

India’s Pulses Imports

India relies on pulse imports to meet its domestic shortages of 3-4 million tonnes.

Regarding pulse availability in the country, the government stated that there has been a significant increase in supply of key pulses such as tur, urad, and change since July 2024, owing to better kharif prospects and continuous imports.

“The overall availability of pulses has been comfortable, with a strong inflow of imports of tur, urad, chana, and yellow peas this year,” it said.

Tur crop is reported to be good, and early harvesting has begun in pockets of Karnataka.

Tur and urad imports for the 2024 calendar year were 10 lakh tonne and 6.40 lakh tonne, respectively, by the first week of November, having already surpassed the whole-year import figures from the previous year.

According to the government, bulk chana imports from Australia are expected to arrive in November.

It further stated that regular inflows at progressively competitive rates were made possible by the recent diversification of pulse source nations.

However, early reports of rabi sowing for moong, urad, masur, and chana show that some states are now catching up in area coverage after an initial delay brought on by heavy rainfall.

“Overall sentiment and sowing intention are reported to be upbeat because of good price realisation,” the statement added.

REFERENCE- business-standard.com