Poor weather conditions in India and Pakistan have created a good opportunity for desi chickpea growers in Canada, says a U.S. pulse broker who specializes in servicing markets in Southeast Asia.
Reports from analysts and crop traders indicate both countries have experienced production difficulties with their winter pulse crops.
At the same time Australia, Canada’s only competition in the desi export market, has virtually run out of desis and won’t restock its reserves until the next harvest in late November.
“This is a year that comes once in 10 years,” said Ashok Fogla, president of A.F. International Corp., a brokerage firm based in Great Neck, New York.
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“It’s a very unique opportunity. I wish I had 20,000 acres of land and I could have planted it.”
While it is difficult to get an exact bead on the extent of damage in India, a country that averages about five million tonnes of chickpea production, there is no doubt the country’s importers are actively sourcing product to make up for an expected deficit of chickpeas, yellow peas and lentils.
It is easier to attach a number to Pakistan’s shortfall because the data from that country is more reliable, said Fogla.
The Karachi Wholesale Grocers Group reports this year’s chickpea harvest will be 350,00-400,000 tonnes. That is way down from last year’s 900,000 tonne crop.
Instead of exporting 150,000 tonnes to India like it did in 2005-06, Pakistan could import 150,000 tonnes of desis, said the association.
Fogla thinks that is a conservative estimate. He believes Pakistan could be short as much as 300,000 tonnes.
He encouraged Canadian growers to consider planting 100,000 acres of desi chickpeas this spring, which at average yields would generate about 65,000 tonnes of crop. There should be enough demand in the Indian subcontinent to “bang out” 50,000 tonnes of that right off the combine.
Agriculture Canada forecasts 300,000 acres of chickpeas of all types in 2006-07, up 100,000 acres from what growers seeded in 2005.
The agency offered no breakdown on how much of that would be desis, but according to an estimate by Stat Publishing, 13 percent of the crop, or 39,000 acres, would be seeded to desis.
Fogla said there should be enough demand to warrant three times that amount.
Garth Patterson, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, said that is good news for growers looking for alternatives to green lentils, a crop that will have a burdensome carryout.
“A few growers might reconsider putting some desis in now with this type of information, although I certainly wouldn’t want to be suggesting they put hundreds of thousands of acres in.”
All the same, Patterson wondered if growers would be better off seeding more yellow peas since they are easier to grow and a good substitute for chickpeas in India.
Fogla said that is true but there is already a sufficient amount of yellow pea production. Canadian growers could get a premium for producing quality desis because while substitution happens, there are Indian buyers who want only desis and are willing to pay for them.
And while chickpeas are a risky crop to grow, the rewards could be worth it this year. Fogla predicts desis will deliver more dollars per acre to farmers than yellow peas.
“I’m not guaranteeing (growers) any pricing or anything. All I’m saying is there is a good window of opportunity for marketing desi chickpeas.”
That window will close in late November when the Australian harvest comes off because importers prefer the product from Down Under, which has lower moisture content and a more desirable colour than Canadian desis.
“The best time to sell will be right off the combine. Take it to somebody and dump it,” said Fogla.
“It’s not peas that you can sell 12 months of the year.”
