Commodity Outlook – Bengal Gram (Chana)

agribazaar April 13, 2021

Sowing period: September to November
Harvesting period: March to April
Crop season: Rabi

Key growing locations:

Madhya Pradesh – Dewas, Khargone, Sehore, Ujjain, Vidisha
Maharashtra – Amarawati, Akola, Vashim, Wardha, Latur
Gujarat – Surat, Dahod, Rajkot, Amreli, Junagarh
Uttar Pradesh – Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Lalitpur
Karnataka – Gadag, Raichur, Gulbarga, Bidar, Dharwad
Rajasthan – Tonk, Kota, Baran, Jhalawar, Ajmer
Telangana – Adilabad, Warangal

Production trend and Stock position:

According to Ministry of Agriculture, the sowing acreage of Bengal Gram as on January 29, 2021 was 112 lakh hectares (lh) up by 4.37 percent compared to 107.31 lh during the corresponding period.
As per the Ministry of Agriculture second advance estimate released on February 24, 2021, Bengal gram production was 116.2 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) compared to FY 2019-20 which was 110.8 LMT, up by 4.87 percent.
Stock positions of Bengal gram have started to be deposited from this month onwards at National Commodity Clearing Limited (NCCL) approved warehouses at Akola, Bikaner, Indore and Jaipur locations. The stocks held as on April 11, 2021 was 60,975 MT.
As per Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGIS), India’s export of Bengal gram (Desi Chana) for 2020-21 (April-December) was 44,090.70 MT valued at ₹ 247.47 crore and imports for the same period was 1.90 LMT valued at ₹ 570.46 crore.
Import flow would remain restricted as duty plus is 60 percent but import flow may continue from least developed countries as they enjoy benefit of zero duty. Some of the top importing countries during this year were Tanzania, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Djibouti, etc.

Monsoon Update

For the country as a whole, cumulative rainfall during this year’s pre-monsoon season till April 7, 2021 is below Long Period Average (LPA) by 43 percent. Details of the rainfall distribution over the four broad geographical regions of India are given below:

Market commentary: Price outlook

The Government had increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Bengal Gram by 4.62 percent to ₹ 5,100 per quintal for Rabi marketing year (MY) 2021-22 compared to ₹ 4,875 in 2020-21.
Overall Bengal Gram prices are likely to trade steady to slightly firm in the immediate / short term as currently Bengal gram is still trading above the MSP and may have an upward movement on expectations of better demand amid lower inventories.