The price of red gram has been constantly rising in the last few months owing to increasing demand against diminished supply, leading to a considerable rise in the price of tur dal (broken red gram) in the market.
As per information provided by Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) officials, the wholesale price of red gram has gone up to ₹12,123 on Tuesday (August 22, 2023) from ₹8000 in March 2023 in the Kalaburagi APMC.
Kalaburagi district is a major producer of red gram in the State.
“Arrivals of red gram in the APMC are constantly decreasing, while the price for the produce is increasing. On Tuesday, first quality red gram sold at ₹12,123 per quintal, middle quality at ₹11,712 per quintal and low quality sold at ₹10,023 per quintal,” an official at the APMC in Kalaburagi said.
He said that the price at which first quality of red gram sold at the Kalaburagi APMC on Tuesday is the highest ever.
The diminished arrivals of red gram in the market are mainly attributed to the diminished production of the crop owing to the floods last year and wilt disease that affected vast tracts of red gram fields in Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Vijayapur and Yadgir districts.
30% yield lost
“Red gram was cultivated on 4.87 lakh hectares in Kalaburagi district. We expected 43.83 lakh quintals of red gram at 9 quintals per hectare. Unfortunately, large tracts of standing red gram crops were destroyed in floods initially and then wilt disease hit the remaining standing crop. In our estimates, the district lost around 30% of the expected red gram production,” Joint Director of Agriculture Samad Patel told The Hindu.
“Red gram is produced in vast tracts of agricultural fields in North Karnataka, including Vijayapura, Raichur, Bidar, Yadgir, Davangere, Chitradurga and Ballari districts. But the red gram produced in Kalaburagi district has a greater demand just because of its taste and quality. The soil in Kalaburagi is, because of its rich limestone deposits, rich in calcium and the red gram produced in this soil is calcium-rich. The Kalaburagi tur dal has a greater demand,” an official from the Department of Agriculture in Kalaburagi said.
He pointed to the district administration’s efforts to sell the Kalaburagi dal under the Bhima Pulses Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
As red gram prices are soaring, so is the price of tur dal. “I sold tur dal at ₹100 per kg two months ago. But, I am selling it at ₹150 per kg now because of the escalation of the wholesale price,” Nagaiahswamy, a retail trader at Kalaburagi APMC, said.
