Chickpeas Part of Healthier Diet

WINNIPEG - Sep 15/04 - SNS -- Chickpeas and other pulses are increasingly being used in health-conscious diets to promote well-being and reduce the risk of illness, notes Agriculture Canada's market analysis branch here in a review of chickpeas.

In his review of the commodity, Stan Skrypetz, Pulse and Special Crops Analyst, noted international production has been variable in the past decade, ranging from a low of 6.6 million metric tons (MT) in 2000-2001 to a high of 9.5 million MT in 1998-1999. India accounted for 60-70% of world production during this period. Production in India was variable, which was the main reason for the large range in world production.

Following are excerpts from Stan Skrypetz' chickpea commentary published by Agriculture Canada:

The two commercial types of chickpeas produced are desi and kabuli.

Countries in the Indian sub-continent and Australia produced mainly the desi type, Canada produced both the kabuli and desi types, and the remaining countries produced mainly the kabuli type. On average, world production consisted of about 75% desi type and 25% kabuli type.

Production of the kabuli type is more dispersed and therefore less variable than for the desi type.

Trade World exports during the past 10 years were variable, but trending upwards. Exports ranged from a low of 313,000 MT in calendar year 1995 to a high of 993,000 MT in 2001. In 2002, the latest year for which world trade statistics are available, exports were 743,000 MT.

During the past 10 years, India was the largest importer of chickpeas, but imports were extremely variable, depending on the volume of production in India and price. Because of the variability in India's imports, there was large variability in total world imports. India and surrounding countries import mainly the desi type, while countries in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa import mainly the kabuli type.

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