The price of pigeon pea is lower than the price of black gram, according to the Bayintnaung Brokerage-based pulses traders. Both of them are mainly exported to India from Myanmar.
As of 18 June 2022, a tonne of black gram was K1,610,000 while a tonne of pigeon pea was K1,410,000 in the Yangon pulses market. On 21 June 2022, the price of the former was K1,615,000 per tonne while the latter was K1,391,000 per tonne, therefore, the price of black gram was up and the price of pigeon pea was down.
Of many types of pigeon peas, the red type is the most expensive, and hence, most cultivated. In the last week of August 2017, the Yangon pulses market was closed for four days due to a temporary ban on pulses imports to India for about seven months. As there were no exports to India after August 2017, the prices of pigeon pea and black gram dropped, and the relevant authority set the price at K400,000 for a tonne of black gram and K500,000 for a tonne of pigeon pea.
In the 2022 monsoon season in India, the two largest pulses-growing states are switching to higher-yielding cotton, soybeans, sugarcane and maize instead of pulses.
As a result, monsoon pulses are estimated to fall by between five per cent and 15 per cent, and Myanmar pulses trader Ko Htay estimates that pigeon pea will fetch a good price. — TWA/GNLM
