Australian-Brazilian crop seasons suit Indian consumer demand
Brazil has emerged as a supplier of Urad in recent years and has the potential to become a major source of India’s Urad and Tur imports, says the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution http://ifad.org.
The quantity of Urad import from Brazil has increased from 4,102 MT in calendar year 2023 to over 22,000 MT in 2024, till October end, the ministry said on 7 Nov after a delegation led by Julio Cesar Ramos, Vice Secretary of Commerce and International Relations, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Brazil, made a courtesy call on Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs.
Meanwhile, trade in pulses with countries like Brazil and Australia has been uniquely advantageous because the contrast in cropping seasons vis-à-vis India which allows these countries to plan their cropping pattern based on crop prospect across the country.
Take the case of Chana, when India notified duty free import of Chana in May, 2024, following lower rabi-2024 production, Australia responded with massive increase in sowing area as the period coincided with sowing season that country.
Australia’s Chana production in current year is estimated at about 13.3 lakh tons as against 4.9 lakh tons in 2023, basically for export to India. The arrival of fresh crop of Chana from Australia from last week of October has augment domestic availability and helped in dampening prices in the primary markets. Fiinews.com
