In a relief to people in tier-two cities in Karnataka where tur dal prices are soaring, an African cereal called ‘adusa dal’, which is the closest to tur dal has become a welcome substitute.
The Times of India reports that adusa dal is being imported from Africa to Hubballi- Dharwad, Mangaluru and Udupi over the past few days at a cheaper rate than the Indian variety. Traders claim to have imported more than 100 tonnes of adusa dal in the last three days.
A kilogram of the African variety is sold at Rs 50 less than Indian tur dal, that is currently being sold at Rs 200-210 per kilo, as per media reports. Ramesh Bafna, a wholesale dealer of pulses, told the Times of India that adusa dal comes to Hubbali from Maharashtra and Gujarat.
On the hoarding of tur dal, Dinesh Gundurao, food and civil supplies minister told TOI that 4800 quintals of pulses worth Rs 6 crore from across the state has been seized.
However, the imported variety was not welcome everywhere in the state. Kalaburgi and other north Karnataka districts did not find a lot of takers for adusa dal is it takes longer to boil than Indian tur dal.
Keval Patel, a wholesale dealer and food grain merchant, told TOI hoteliers hesitate to use the imported variety. Instead they have substituted tur dal with masoor dal.
“It is only purchased by middle class families who seek to cut down on their monthly expenses,” he said.
The newspaper said that this is not the first time that an imported food item is entering Karnataka markets. Earlier, onions from China and Egypt were imported. Price rise of cereals is primarily due to drought in Kalaburgi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Bidar districts where pulses are grown.
While the MMTC southern regional stocks centre is in Chennai, our de-husking centres are in Kalaburgi and other North Karnataka districts. This means we have to transport the pulses to Kalaburgi and from there distribute it to other parts of Karnataka. The costs would add to roughly the same amount as it is currently priced. It does not make any sense at this point of time.
Dinesh Gundurao to Times of India
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