India explores contract farming for pulses in Mozambique, Myanmar

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India explores contract farming for pulses in Mozambique, Myanmar

5:21 CAT | 23 Jun 2016

Times of India (File photo)

Faced with acute shortage of pulses, India has reached out to Myanmar and Mozambique to explore possibilities of leasing out agricultural land to grow the lentils to meet domestic demands.

A delegation of officials led by Consumer Affairs Secretary Hem Pande was in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, for assessing short-term and long-term measures for importing pulses to meet the growing demand back home.

Re-doubled efforts

The Modi government has re-doubled efforts to bridge the demand supply gap and is also looking at contract farming avenues in other African nations such as Malawi and Tanzania.

The seriousness of the government was also evident from the fact that agricultural cooperation ranked high on the agenda for discussion National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had with Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung Sang Suu Kyi at Nay Pyi Taw last week.

The points discussed during Doval’s visit are being taken forward in follow up talks by a delegation comprising officials from the ministries of consumer affairs and agriculture and trading company Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC).

Import of pulses

The government has decided to import 6.5 lakh tonnes of pulses to build a buffer stock of eight lakh tonnes. It has already purchased 1.34 lakh tonnes of pulses from domestic markets.

Earlier, private traders used to import pulses from Malawi and Myanmar, but now officials feel government-to-government trade would be more stable and lead to assured delivery of the good.

Crisis

During the pulses crisis last year, the global tenders floated on behalf of the government to procure pulses had elicited poor response.

As per the industry data, private traders have so far imported three million tonnes of pulses, which are expected to arrive between August and December.

Source: Deccan Herald