Government likely to ban import of desi chickpeas

LAHORE: After successive crop failures and losses to farmers, federal government at last made up its mind, and is likely to ban import of desi chickpeas (black gram), it was learnt on Thursday.

The aim to check imports of desi chickpeas is indispensable with a view to stabilising the price of the new produce amid massive imports in the last two consecutive years, official sources said. Local production of this year’s crop, which is being harvested nowadays, has been estimated to be short of more than fifty percent of local consumption because of very low rains.

However, there is no shortage of the commodity in the market while its retail prices are also very much stable, thanks to robust imports in the last couple of years. But, these market conditions are not favourable for the farmers as purchase price may not be attractive for them.

Chickpeas are one of the oldest food crops being cultivated in this part of the world. Most of the local desi chickpeas are cultivated in rain-fed areas of Punjab. It has been a favourite food for many Pakistanis, as it is extensively used in skinned and split form (chana daal) and gram flour (besan).

This year, desi chickpea was cultivated on 2.19 million acres in Rabi 2017-18 in Punjab against the target of 2.17 million acres, showing an increase of about nine percent. The estimated production stands at 0.274 million tons against last year’s production of 0.262 million tons. The local yearly consumption of desi chickpeas however hovers around 0.6 million tons.

Like previous output of crop, this year’s desi chickpea crop was also affected due to lack of timely rains.

According to official sources, keeping in view production and supply trends, the federal government has prepared a policy to stop imports of desi chickpea so that farmers could get some due price of their produce. The information was shared with the stakeholders during a meeting of Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) the other day. Food security minister presided over the meeting while the ministry’s secretary was also present on the occasion. It was the resolve of the Federal Ministry of Food Security to stop import of desi chickpeas till the growers’ produce was consumed.

In addition to the Ministry of Food Security’s recommendation to ban imports, the federal government at least may opt to levy import duty to restrict the trade of desi chickpeas.

Pakistan imported 0.450 million tons during 2016-17, mainly from Australia while around 0.240 tons have been imported this fiscal. This calendar year alone, around 1,500 containers or 36,000 tons of desi chickpea has been imported, while the same volume is expected to be imported before the month of Ramazan.

“We feel this import quantity is enough for Ramazan demand because consumption of daal chana besan (flour) has fallen and yellow pea flour has taken its place,” said Danial Ahmed, a Rawalpindi-based trader. “For the last 2-3 years, yellow peas are imported in big volumes around 130,000 to 140,000 tons for making besan. Earlier, it was only used in nimko etc and thus had been imported in the volumes of 50,000 tons,” he maintained.

Owing to short production in recent years, Pakistan relies on chickpea imports mainly from Australia. However, local growers are suffering due to the abundant imports as they were unable to compete with commercial farmers of other countries.

Mubashar Naeem, a farmer belonging to Layyah District, was of the opinion that imports of pulses should have been restricted earlier to encourage local production of local chickpeas and other pulses. “Our neighbouring country also curtailed imports of pulses by imposing duties with the aim of supporting their farmers,” he said.

“We need to work on these lines, which will also help strengthen the economy, as regulatory step of imposing duty on pulses import is also necessary for saving foreign exchange,” he observed.

Naeem also underlined the need to take steps for addressing challenges posed by climate change to crops. Erratic rains and subsequent water scarcity has become one of the major issues for farmers in the rain-fed region, he said.

Ibrahim Mughal, chairman, Agri-Forum Pakistan criticised the role of the Agriculture Department over low production of desi chickpeas. “The officials are acting as silent spectators while successive crop failures have wreaked havoc on farming of pulses,” he added.

Chickpea is one of the most drought tolerant crops, but changing climate has increasingly made its cultivation difficult due to increasingly dry weather every year, Mughal said.

There should be some innovative approach to somehow address water shortage related problems of black gram cultivation in the country. Farmers should be given special incentive for building cemented ponds for storing water as well as employing micro-irrigation techniques like rain gun etc, Mughal stressed.