Present Production
It appears that the area and production of pulses have remained stagnant over the years. A good number of pulses are grown in Bangladesh, the major ones being: khesari (Lathyrus sativus L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medic), mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek), chickpea(Cicer arietinum L.), field pea (Pisum sativum subsp arvense), and pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.). These account for about 90-92% of all pulse crops. Their shares in total production are 3 2 % , 30%, 6%, 15%, 3%, and 1% respectively . The production of pulses is concentrated in a few districts, viz., Faridpur, Pabna, Jessore, Kushtia, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Tangail, Barisal, and Noakhali. The crops are grown mainly during the dry winter months (postrainy season). Wheat and boro (winter) rice do not leave much scope for pulses particularly where irrigation is available. Cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane are also favored by growers due to their relatively high economic returns. The average national yields of pulses are also quite low.
The per capita consumption of pulses in Bangladesh by rural and urban people are shown in Table 2 (BBS 1986). The recommended per capita rate of pulses is 80 g day-1 (Ahmed 1989). The total requirements as per recommendation are 3.63 million t in 1990 and 4.40 million t in 1995. The 1987/88 production was only 0.539 million t. Quantities of pulses imported from various countries between 1985/86 and 1988/89 and their values for the last 4 years are shown (Collector of Customs, Chittagong and Khulna Ports, 1989). In 1987/88 the import of pulses exceeded the previous import record. There were floods during the 1987 monsoons which damaged vegetable crops. Therefore, the prices of vegetables increased sharply, which resulted in excess demand for pulses. To check the rising prices, the import of pulses was increased and stood at 34 5331. The country faced an unprecedented flood in the monsoon of 1988, a severe cyclone in November, 1988, and again an unprecedented drought that lasted the spring and summer of 1989. These affected all winter and summer crops including vegetables during the current year (1988/89). The prices of pulses which began to increase in July 1986 are still continuing to rise as shown in Table 4 (Department of Agricultural Marketing 1989). The prices were considerably higher in the current harvest season compared to any other previous year (February-April 1989).
Future Import Policy
In 1988/89 the import of pulses exceeded that of 1987/ 88 (Table 3). Private parties have imported 8000 t and the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) arranged to import 2000 t of pulses up to April , 1989. Lentil is now freely imported by private traders. The prices of pulses increased faster than those of any other food commodity group, except vegetables (Orr and Islam 1988). This indicates heavy shortage of pulses in the internal market. Potato is available in the markets throughout the year. The production of winter vegetables is about three times higher than that of summer vegetables. As a result, consumers use potato and pulses in larger quantities during the period from May to October, with seasonal vegetables. In a normal year with substantial production of vegetables, fish, the demand for pulses is lower and the import requirement is minimal. Consumers get fish (small and dry) and vegetables at lower prices than pulses. In the long run the country is not in a position to import pulses to increase the capita-1 consumption by its population. These are imported only to supplement domestic production and to reduce the internal market prices. However, in the short run there is no way to meet the nation's demand for pulses except through imports. Prices of pulses are likely to increase during the fourth plan period for the following reasons: 1. The declining trend in the production of pulses and diversion of land to high-value crops. 2. Increasing demand due to rise in population. 3. Relatively low growth in the production of other protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, and eggs. The production of these does not match population growth resulting in a steep rise in their price. 4. Increased probability of floods and droughts as a result of deforestation. 5. Increased cost of production and marketing.
Change of Marketing Channel Black gram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper) and mung bean (early) are harvested in December but most of the other pulses are harvested in February and March. All these pulses are distributed in the market through the age-old channel of marketing. The imported pulses/dhals come to metropolitan cities through importers and are marketed through the wholesaler, aratdar, and retailer. Pulses imported by the TCB are marketed by its selected shops. At present many mobile retailers buy pulses from the producing areas, process these in local mills and sell them in the form of dhal to the urban and metropolitan population. The sale price of dhal through this channel is lower by Tk. 1.00 to Tk. 1.25 kg-1 than the price at the retail shops. This has emerged as a new channel of marketing in recent years and has added new dimension to the traditional channel.