Black gram, pigeon pea prices volatile in Yangon market

Yangon’s pulses market sees price fluctuation of black gram and pigeon pea (red gram) in June 2023, traders involved in pulses trading pointed out.
The prices stood at K2,374,000 per tonne of black gram (FAQ/RC) and K2,609,000 per tonne of black gram (SQ/RC) and K3,050,000 per tonne of pigeon pea on 20 June. Black gram was priced at K2,237,500 per tonne while pigeon pea price touched a high of K3,200,000 per tonne on 19 June.
The figures showed a sharp rise of over K130,000 per tonne of black gram and a significant drop of K150,000 per tonne of pigeon pea within one day, U Hla Myint, a trader told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
The prevailing price of black gram broke a record high of K2,456,000 per tonne on 17 October 2015.
The black gram price touched a high of K2,425,000 per tonne on 17 June and two days later, the price plunged to K2,237,500 per tonne. Similarly, the pigeon pea price hit an all-time high of K3.33 million per tonne on 5 June 2023 and 15 days later, the price was down by K300,000 per tonne. The pulses market sees a big price swing.
There are 17 million acres of monsoon and summer paddy plantations and 9.63 million acres of pulses and beans. The main buyer India had low pulses output in 2023 so the demand is increasing. The prices are therefore likely to remain on an upward trend.
There were 2.76 million acres of black gram and 1.59 million acres of pigeon pea in the 2017-2018 financial year, accounting for 37 per cent of the overall bean plantations. The export volume of black gram and pigeon pea totalled 750,000 tonnes at that time, which constitutes 57 per cent of overall pulses export volume.
Monsoon pulses cultivation season has started and the newly harvested pigeon pea will enter the market at the end of the year. — TWA/EM