Pigeon pea import restrictions “will not affect Mozambique”

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Pigeon pea import restrictions “will not affect Mozambique”

7:55 CAT | 18 Aug 2017

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Mozambican exports of pigeon peas to India will not be hit by the recent decision by the Indian government to restrict imports of this pulse, according to the Indian embassy in Maputo.

In early August the Indian authorities imposed quotas on pigeon pea imports, moving this crop from the “free” to the “restricted” category of imports. The new rules state that only 200,000 tonnes of pigeon peas can be imported in any one fiscal year. In the 2016/2017 fiscal year, which ended on 31 March, India imported 703,540 tonnes of pigeon peas, from many countries.

These imports came on top of a bumper pigeon pea crop in India, and are blamed for depressing the prices paid to Indian producers.

However, the government said the restrictions would not apply in cases where India has bilateral agreements on pigeon peas and, interviewed in Friday’s issue of the independent weekly “Savana”, the first secretary at the Indian Embassy, Hansaj Singh Verma, said the measure would not, in the initial phase, affect Mozambique.

Exports of pigeon peas (known in India as dal) fall under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2016, during the visit to Mozambique of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This memorandum is valid for five years and Verma said it will be fully honoured.

The restriction, he added, will cover imports from Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and other producers of pigeon peas, but not Mozambique. Verma would not comment on what might happen after the memorandum of understanding lapses.

Exports from Mozambique to India are expected to reach 200,000 tonnes in the 2020-21 agricultural year – given that the ceiling imposed by the Indian government is 200,000 tonnes, that implies that no other country will be able to export pigeon peas to India that year.

In 2016, the export of Mozambican pigeon peas to India was worth around 100 million US dollars.

Source: AIM