Pulses Market Prices News

Governments to lift stockholding limits on pulses to support Prices

Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said because of adequate supply and drop in prices the Centre had directed state governments to lift stockholding limits on pulses.

Paswan said the move will help producers of pulses, “The stockholding limits on pulses have been lifted with immediate effect, as there is no shortage of pulses in the country and prices too have fallen.”

With pulses production in 2016-17 reaching an all-time high of over 22 million tonne (mt), prices of most pulses, particularly tur, moong and masoor, have dropped below the minimum support price (MSP), forcing the government to intervene.

Under the Essential Commodities Act, states have been empowered to impose stockholding limits. The central government withdrew the order, as prices had fallen below MSP at several places.

After the order, several states had prohibited traders and wholesalers from holding pulses stocks beyond a certain limit to ensure adequate supplies in the open market.

However, following a bumper production, the order had come to haunt traders who resisted purchasing aggressively, as they couldn’t stock.

Sourcehttp://www.business-standard.com/