Record 2017-18 Indian Pulse Harvest
DELHI - Aug 30/18 - SNS -- India's pulse harvest across the 2017-18 kharif and rabi cropping seasons reached a record 25.23 million metric tons (MT), according to the country's agriculture department.
The biggest and most controversial increase was in the estimated size of this year's chickpea or gram crop, which jumped from 9.38 to 11.23 million MT. By contrast, traders appear to believe last summer's production estimate for tur or pigeon pea, which slipped from 4.87 million MT in 2016 to 4.25 million last year.
Two years of large pigeon pea harvests dulled demand for green lentils. Some millers used green lentils as a substitute for pigeon pea. The massive harvests of 2016 and 2017 reduced that need, with movement now reflecting basic consumer interest in having green lentils as a food choice.
This is clearly reflected in Canadian trade data in the platinum version of the STAT website. Canadian green lentil exports to India peaked at 204,216 MT during the 2014-15 marketing campaign. They dropped to 60,545 MT in 2016-17 and by the end of June of Canada's 2017-18 marketing year had collapsed to 5,491 MT.
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