Increased sowing of mustard and rapeseed (oil seeds) and a slight dip in grams (pulses) have been observed in the ongoing rabi season. The reasons are better moisture in the soil that favours oilseeds growth and the expected trend of pulses to trade below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) As of January 20, pulses have been sown over 164.12 lakh hectares as against 163.70 of last year while chana has taken 110.91 lakh hectares of land, compared to 112.65 of the previous year. Oilseed has been sown on over 108.34 lakh hectares as compared to 100.54 of the last year. Last season, National Cooperative Agricultural Marketing Federation (NAFED) procured around 20-25 lakh tonnes of gram under its MSP operations. The gram growers across the country have reported good crop quality and expect a bumper harvest. This would again set forth another cycle of low prices for grams due to high yield and low demand from the government as the previous year's stock is still available. According to Latur’s wholesale market traders, this year chana wholesale price would not cross Rs 4500-4600 per quintal mark. Growers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat are also going for oilseed instead of the pulse.
