India Faces Steep Drop in Pulse Output

VANCOUVER - Aug 20/11 - SNS -- Seeding of this year's kharif or monsoon season pulse crops have fallen 11% behind last year's pace, according to the latest date available from the country's agriculture department.

There is no reason to believe farmers will match last year's seeded area. Though minimum support prices (MSP) for pulses are up over last year, like farmers in other parts of the world, India's farmers are more interested in planting other crops than pulses. This is reflected in the fact that as of August 19, seeding progress for all crops matched last year.

Declines in pulses and coarse grains are offset by gains in rice and oilseeds. Moreover, seeding will soon wrap up in India. On average, farmers plant 10.8 million hectares of pulses during the kharif season. As of August 19, they had planted 9.93 million hectares, down from 11.17 million at the same time last year.