Trend continued to remain Bullish or Chana as improved domestic demand amidst lower crop expectations kept trend firm for the counter. Traders are not ruling out some more uptrend in coming days as Festive season demand expected to remain high.
As per Rabi Crops data released by Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, area coverage under total Pulses is at 145.92 lakh ha till Feb 13, while the last year's sowing area coverage was 162.21 lakh ha. Chana has been sown over 85.91 lakh ha, which is less 15% as compared to last year's 102.25 lakh ha.
However, lower sowing reports and expectations of a pick up in demand at the lower levels are likely to support the prices in coming weeks. Extending Dutyfree import for Pulses till March 31 may prevent strong uptrend. But a fall in Rabi sowing area for Rabi Pulses and lower International production prospects could support prices in medium to long term.
As per USDA, expected pulses production in US is up by 8% to 2,232,630 metric tonne during 2014 from last year. Reports from Canada indicate chickpea production there expected to fall to 0.14 million MT in 2014-15—down from 0.18 million MT in 2013-14due to lower yield. Reports from Australia indicate a 22.5% fall in Pulses production and more than 30% fall in Chick Peas production in 2014- 15 vs that in 2013-14.
Report from AP Agri Dept indicates Rabi Pulses sowing down 4% from 8.45 lakh ha as on 28.01.2014 to 8.12 lakh ha as on 28.01.2015. As per Maharashtra Agri Dept, sowing till Feb 6 is down 18%. According to Gujarat Agriculture department, rabi chana acreage till Feb 2,2015 is down by 31% compared to the last year's area. The 2nd advance estimate by Rajasthan state agriculture department projected 12.24 lakh tons of chana this year, while it had touched 16.40 lakh tons last year. Chana acreage is lagging by 22% there. As per the data, sowing area has covered 14.9 lakh ha in the state so far, while it was recorded 19.23 lakh ha last year.
