According to the information from the Bayintnaung wholesale market, the prices of black grams and pigeon peas have been opened with high prices after the Myanmar New Year holidays.
Before the Myanmar New Year holidays, on 12 April, the prices were closed at K3,275,000 for a tonne of black grams and K4,147,000 for a tonne of pigeon peas. However, on 22 April, the black gram price slightly dropped to K3,200,000 per tonne, whereas the pigeon pea price slightly surged to K4,150,000 per tonne.
As a matter of fact, pigeon pea price trends in Myanmar depend on India’s demands (since India is the primary purchaser of Myanmar’s pigeon peas) and the foreign exchange rate in the market.
On 5 February, prices of both black grams and pigeon peas skyrocketed at K3,500,000 and K4,197,000, respectively, thanks to high foreign demands.
Although India buys pigeon peas from Myanmar, Brazil and other countries, it prefers Myanmar’s pigeon peas for good quality and sufficient quantity. What is more, the Indian government extended the duty-free import policy on pigeon peas and black grams until March 2025.
Myanmar has exported a total of more than 1,700,000 tonnes of varieties of beans and pulses in the 2023-24 Financial Year (from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024), from which the country has earned over US$1,484 million, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar mainly exports black grams, green grams, and pigeon peas, among other beans and pulses. In fact, black grams and pigeon peas are primarily exported to India, while green grams are mostly exported to China and some European countries.
Since India is the largest consumer of pulses in the world, Myanmar and Indian governments signed an MoU on 18 June 2021 for bilateral collaboration in pulse trade with government-to-government assistance.
According to the abovementioned MoU, the Indian government purchases black beans 250,000 tonnes and 100,000 tonnes of pigeon peas from Myanmar annually from the private trade sector for five consecutive FYs (from 2021-22 FY to 2025-26 FY). The said G-to-G programme does not exclude Myanmar pulse exporters from the Indian government’s annually announced pulses quota for international beans and pulses traders. — NN/TMT
