FNB News - IPGA and USADPALC jointly host IPGA Knowledge Series webinar on Kharif

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IPGA and USADPALC jointly host IPGA Knowledge Series webinar on Kharif

Wednesday, 14 September, 2022, 16 : 00 PM [IST]

Our Bureau, Mumbai

India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), the apex body of India’s pulses and grains industry and trade, along with USA Dry Peas and Lentil Council (USADPALC) jointly hosted a webinar on the Outlook of Kharif pulses crop production 2022 and the USA crop update under the aegis of the ‘IPGA Knowledge Series’.

The webinar aimed at giving an in-depth insight into this year’s kharif pulses crop, production, future outlook of Tur, Urad and Moong, its yield, impact on prices and import-dependence as well as a detailed USA crop update. Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, gave the keynote address on Government’s perspective on Outlook of Kharif Pulses Crop Production 2022. The webinar was attended by over 400 trade stakeholders across India and USA.

The webinar had eminent speakers from across India and USA. Bimal Kothari, chairman, IPGA, gave opening remarks; Rahul Chauhan, director, Igrain India, elaborated on Kharif Outlook 2022 of Tur and Urad production, output perspective and projected demand; Pritesh Nandu, partner, Himtalal Hirji & Co - green peas and yellow peas crop production and demand-supply scenario from the trade perspective; Ritesh Mittal, director, Pan Shree, Delhi, gave an overview of Kharif Outlook 2022 of Moong crop production and demand-supply scenario from the trade perspective and Lalit Bangar, chartered accountant and pulses industry expert, highlighted production of African tur crop in East African countries, production of Myanmar Tur crop and overall outlook on demand and supply of Tur in India. Jeff Rumney, VP, marketing, USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, gave USA Crop Update whereas Sachin Khurana, India representative, USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, highlighted Standard for Quality Campaign that USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council is introducing in India.

While giving opening remarks, Kothari said, “IPGA has set out a transformation agenda for the industry and trade. In order to pursue this single mindedly, we are working closely with the government, policy markers and our foreign partner associations like USA Dry Pea and Lentils Council. We provide policy inputs and forward guidance about markets in the most objective and unbiased manner. Such joint webinars help our stakeholders get deep insights from our expert speakers which help them to formulate their business decisions. It is an indeed honour and privilege to have Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, as the keynote speaker.”

He added, “We have been closely interacting with Rohit Kumar Singh and appreciate his openness for suggestions and ideas coming from IPGA. Indian government is keen to boost domestic production of pulses year on year. Strategies for sustaining self-sufficiency in the pulses sector are evolving over a period of time. The focus has been on closing the yield gaps, area expansion and productivity enhancement. We would certainly like to applaud the efforts taken under the able leadership and guidance of Rohit Kumar Singh to promote the sector. We are aligned with the thought processes to make India more competitive and a price setter in the global trade.”

Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, in the keynote address said, “There’s likely an impact of uneven rainfall on the kharif pulses crop production. The outlook is not very positive and the erratic rains have been posing a challenge. Department of Consumer Affairs takes cognisance of the situation in the field, both in terms of availability and prices. Accordingly interventions are undertaken to keep the pulses prices under control. If we don't have adequate domestic production, we keep our borders open for facilitating imports from overseas markets. Hopefully this will help us overcome this crisis and the prices in the high demand season will not be excessively high. The share of kharif pulses in overall output has reduced from 37 per cent to 31 per cent, which is not a good sign.”

He stated, “We are the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world. The production is about 25 to 26 million tonne every year, while the consumption is a little ahead of 27 to 28 million tonne every year, depending on the year and how the economy is doing. We have also seen that the consumption is also increasing as the poverty levels have reduced in the country. And people, especially the vegetarian part of the population are consuming a high protein diet. In our constant engagement with IPGA, we do touch upon important topics such as how to improve the availability of proteins to the economically disadvantaged sections of the society in India. We are working jointly on a paper to take it up for higher level discussions.”