India’s pulse demand is Canadian exporters’ gain

(Resource News International) — As India’s demand for pulses grows in
coming years, Canadian exports are expected to increase
accordingly, according to Carl Potts of Pulse Canada, and that increase may support prices.

Canada is India’s largest supplier of pulse crops — legumes such as peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas and fababeans — and
stands to benefit from strong demand in the coming years.

“We’ve seen very, very strong demand so we
expect that to keep Canadian prices generally quite strong out
into the future,” said Potts, the pulse industry organization’s director of market development.

The Indian government announced recently that over the
next three years, domestic demand for pulse crops will
significantly outstrip domestic production.

That in itself is
nothing new, as pulse demand in India has for years outstripped supply, said Stan Skrypetz, pulse and special crops analyst for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Winnipeg. The difference, he said, is that
strong economic growth in India means more families can now
afford to include a variety of pulses in their regular diets.

Also supporting import demand is India’s policy of
importing food as part of its efforts to curtail rising food
costs.

Furthermore, there are indications, Skrypetz said, that
Indian farmers are moving away from pulses into crops such as
wheat. The winter seeding period in India runs from October
through mid-January and so far weather conditions have been
dry. That may discourage farmers from switching to wheat,
which requires more moisture than pulses.

If the rest of the
season remains dry, however, even pulse crops will suffer.
Either way, there could be less pulses this year, Skrypetz
explained. There will be less seeded area or lower pulse
yields due to poor weather conditions.

“The view is that the environment
is encouraging the production of crops other than pulses, such
as wheat or corn,” Potts said. “I’ve seen talk of chickpea acres being
sharply lower this year, although we’re very early in the
season. I think the view is that the incentives to produce
other crops are better that they are for chickpeas.

“Part of the reason why we see such strong
prices in Canada for pulses, in particular this fall, is that
the demand is there. The supply availability from other
exporters has been limited so Canada has been a major
supplier.”

Looking forward, Skrypetz said that as Canadian exports
to India continue, trade disruptions between the two countries
need to be addressed — specifically, the issue of crop
fumigation.

India currently requires pulses coming from Canada to be
quarantined and fumigated with methyl bromide to eliminate the
risk of stem and bulb nematode infestation. Because Canada
does not use methyl bromide, fumigation occurs on
arrival, leading to unnecessary delays and costs. The existing
agreement between Canada and India is set to expire in four
months.

“The practice has been to extend the agreement but India
has to give more notice. The other option is to come up with a
permanent solution,” Skrypetz said.

The Canadian solution is to have the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA) certify pulse shipments free of nematodes.
If a shipment were free from infestation it would not require
fumigation upon arrival in India. If it were not, CFIA
would notify India ahead of time and the pulses would be
fumigated according to India’s requirements.

“At the beginning people were worried they weren’t going
to be able to export but eventually it settled down into this
grey area. The industry would prefer it if they would just
certify us free from the nematodes.”

Occurrences of nematode infestation
in Canadian exports are quite low, Skrypetz noted.

Yellow peas account for the majority of Canadian pulse
exports to India, followed by lentils and then chickpeas.

Canadian exports of yellow peas for
2007-08 will likely exceed one million tonnes, Potts estimated. That compares
with 743,000 tonnes in 2006-07 and 793,000 the year before.