Why is the biggest impact of inflation only on Pigeon pea? Understand the whole game of inflation in simple language. - Newztezz - Latest News Today, Breaking News, Top News Headlines, Latest Sports News

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Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Why is the biggest impact of inflation only on Pigeon pea? Understand the whole game of inflation in simple language.

Earlier, pigeon pea was harvested only once a year. It was sown in Ashadh (July) and harvested in Baishakh (April). That means it took about ten months. In such a situation, sowing pigeon pea has never been a profitable deal for the farmers.

Arhar dal is priced at Rs 180 per kg in the retail market. The price of moong, lentils and urad is slightly less than this, but that too is spoiling the budget of middle class households. Pulses are eaten in every region of the country, because it is necessary for vegetarians to eat pulses once a day. Those who eat eggs or meat get protein through them, but for vegetarians there is no other source of protein other than pulses. Since rice is the main food of a large area of ​​India. Therefore, for protein either fish or pulses should be eaten. Similarly, in areas where the main food is roti, non-vegetarians fulfill their quota of protein by eating mutton or chicken. But what should vegetarians do? This is why pulses are the main staple of the diet here. But now even non-vegetarians eat pulses along with mutton or chicken. That is why the consumption of pulses is increasing.

Till four decades ago, pigeon pea was eaten only in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Pigeon pea was rare in western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. When I came to work in Jansatta in 1983, arhar dal was not available anywhere in Delhi. In any dhaba or canteen, either gram-urad dal or washed moong dal in the name of yellow dal is available. Since I had come from Kanpur, I would have to remain hungry without arhar dal. Within a month I left Jansatta. When Jansatta editor Prabhash Joshi came to know about this, he sent a person from Delhi to Kanpur and called me and asked the reason for leaving the job. I told him about the problem of not getting arhar dal. He arranged for my stay in the guest house of Gandhi Smriti at Rajghat, where the South Indian chef (cook) used to prepare arhar dal both the times. Then it came to light that the people of Tamil Nadu are also crazy about pigeon pea.

Taste and health too

Pigeon pea dal is not only light but its taste is also incomparable. It also contains sufficient protein. That is why it is definitely eaten with rice. Although cheese and milk also replenish protein, cheese is available only in urban areas and there is a risk of it getting spoiled as the weather gets hotter. According to a rough estimate, the consumption of pulses in the whole of India is about 32 million tonnes per year. Out of this, 2.79 crore tonnes is domestic production and 50 lakh tonnes of pulses has to be imported. The consumption of arhar dal alone is 45 lakh tonnes, while the production is 34.22 lakh tonnes. The vision report of the Pulses Research Institute of Kanpur suggests that this consumption will increase by about 10 million tonnes in the coming decade and a half. However, it is not that the consumption and area of ​​pulses has not increased. Recent research shows that the area of ​​pulses has also increased and its yield has also almost doubled in the last thirty years. That means the graph of consumption of pulses is not stopping.

The only source of protein for vegetarians

The amount of protein in pulses is so high that rice or wheat cannot provide that amount of protein. There is 6.8 percent protein per hundred grams of cooked pulses, whereas rice contains only 2.7 percent. Even in pulses, this quantity is 16.6 percent in soybean, 12.6 percent in eggs and 26.6 percent in cooked chicken. Obviously pulses are rich in protein. In such a situation, what can be a good alternative to pulses for vegetarians? Some people say that pulses cause gout, hence thin pulses should be eaten. This is true to an extent and it is a scientific fact that excessive protein increases air or gas in the body. That is why eating pulses at night is prohibited. But the amount of protein in thin lentils will also be less, whereas a vegetarian person must take at least twenty grams of protein a day to stay healthy.

more damage to pigeon pea

When it is only 6.8 percent in 100 grams of pulses and no one eats 100 grams of pulses in a day, then how will this quantity be fulfilled. Apparently from some other sources too. For example, from fruits, from vegetables, from beans, from wheat and gram. That is why there is a tradition of mixing gram flour in wheat flour. But in the last few years, Indians have become very choosy when it comes to eating pulses. Now only one dal is being eaten and that is Arhar dal. Where just twenty years ago, people in other areas of Uttar Pradesh, except the central region, did not eat arhar, now they too have started liking arhar dal. The result was that the market prices of tur among pulses have skyrocketed. Last year, pigeon pea, which was easily available in the market for Rs 125 per kg, has now started touching Rs 200.

Other pulses relatively cheap

This increase in the prices of pulses is visible only in the case of Arhar. Other pulses did not become so expensive. Even today, the price of lentils is around Rs 1.25 per kg, the price of urad is Rs 150 per kg and the price of moong is also the same. Chana dal is easily available between Rs 100 and Rs 110. Other pulses like cowpea, chickpea and soybean are also available at their previous prices. If this monopoly on pulses ends then perhaps the rising prices of pigeon pea can be controlled. In Ayurveda, pigeon pea is prohibited for bone patients and the reason for this is the abundance of Vayu element in it. This element is present in abundance in lentils and urad. This is the reason that gradually these pulses started being removed from the daily diet.

Pigeon pea tastes great

Now pigeon pea is being used more than other pulses. Gram dal is difficult to melt and soybean has more slimy consistency. Therefore, despite being high in protein, these pulses started disappearing from the daily plate and pigeon pea started being eaten both the times. Moong dal is considered light. That means it is the only pulse which has less air element. That is why this dal has been said to be eaten in the evening and it is suitable for those who suffer from stomach diseases. But due to lack of taste and farmers not taking interest in sowing it, there was never any surge in the sale of this pulse in the market.

one harvest a year

Now hybrid pigeon pea is harvested twice a year. Its crop ripens in a total of 150 days. Apart from this, Pigeon pea crop demands less water and it has never been inconvenient for Indian farmers to sow the crop which demands less water. But due to the drought that has occurred in the last two years and the way the rains of March and April have destroyed the crop, the pulses crop has suffered the most. There has been a shortage of twenty lakh tonnes on pigeon pea alone. In such a situation, pulses are not easily available. It is a different matter that governments can fulfill this shortage to some extent by putting pressure on hoarders and importing pulses.

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