MUMBAI (Commoditiescontrol) - Australia's Agriculture Department in its latest estimate for 2018-19 cuts chana production outlook at 3.30 lakh tonnes, as against 11.48 lakh tonnes in the previous year.
Earlier in September, it had predicted production of 3.51 million tonnes for 2018-19.
The decline in the production of agricultural production was attributed to sharp decline in acreage and poor yield amid scanty rainfall. Farmers in Australia were less interested in chana sowing due to sharp drop in prices after Indian government restricted import by putting import duty of 50%.
Australia sowed only 3.07 lakh hectares under chana for 2018-19, compared to 11.16 lakh hectare a year ago.
Production of lentil is also expected to decline at 3.43 lakh tonnes against previous year's of 4.85 lakh tonnes, while the production of peas is now likely to be down at 1.94 lakh tonnes, which is much less than 4.85 lakh tonnes in 2017-18.
According to the data obtained from the Abares, the country has shipped only 7.56 lakh tonnes of chana in 2017-18, sharply down from 22.93 lakh tonnes in 2016-17.
(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau; +91-22-40015533)