ICRISAT Archival Report 2010

een noted that these check posts are bypassed frequently. Further, the data that is maintained at the
check post is for pulses or for chickpea, rather than for desi and kabuli varieties.
4. There are additional links in the chain between chickpea farmers and dal processors that further erode
the farmer’s share in the consumers’ rupee. Dal processors prefer to buy whole grain in bulk in order to
cut down on their transaction costs. However, since a lot of the chickpea farmers are small scale
farmers with small marketable surpluses, a commission agent who collects all the grain from the
farmers, and sells it to the dal millers in bulk quantity becomes an important actor in the value chain.
There are six different market chains identified revealed by the survey and the two most common / popular ones
are:
1. Farmer --- Commission agent----Trader --- Processor ---- Wholesaler ----Retailer ----Consumer
2. Farmer --- Trader --- Processor ---- Wholesaler ----Retailer ----Consumer
Data on the preferred traits and the most common production constraints in the cultivation of chickpea were
collected from important markets in Kurnool and Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh and Dharwad and
Gulbarga districts in Karnataka.
The processing firms are located near the chickpea production area, and further growth in value addition is
possible. Due to the existence of processing plants at the district headquarters, value addition is done to the raw
gram involving primary and secondary level of processing.
Pigeonpea is mainly marketed as decorticated grain dal in India. Market surveys were undertaken in important
markets in Ranga Reddy and Mahabubnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh and Akola district in Maharashtra. Data
on the preferred traits and the most common production constraints in the cultivation of pigeonpea were
collected. The ruling varieties differed in both the project states with Maruti ruling in Maharashtra while Asha
was the most popular cultivar in Andhra Pradesh.
The pigeonpea marketing chain in Maharashtra comprises a variety of numerous market intermediaries such as
commission agents, traders, wholesale traders, processors, retailers, exporters, etc., between the producer-sellers
and the ultimate consumers. The market intermediaries here are very powerful and control the entire regulated
market. The intermediaries get the lion’s share of the profit.
The most significant constraints that the farmers faced when choosing to purchase seeds were the lack of
information about recommended varieties and the non-availability of required variety. The low quality of the
purchased seed was also cited as a reason. Farmers preferred to sell their produce in the village itself to village
traders and payment was received soon after the conclusion of the marketing transaction.
High tariff for the power supply and lack of labour for pigeonpea processing activities were the major problems
confronting them as processors and had telling effect on the prices of pigeonpea dal.
Sorghum:
By and large food consumption of sorghum exhibits a declining trend across all the major sorghum producing/
consuming states both in rural and urban India, but the decline is variable across states. The largest decline in
consumption is seen for the states of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh both in rural and urban areas.
Though these states were important sorghum consuming states during 1970s and 1980s, the availability of
cheaper staples such as rice in Andhra Pradesh and wheat in Madhya Pradesh has contributed to the increased
substitution of sorghum.
However, while food use of sorghum has declined sharply at the all-India level, its use as food is still
important in major producing states like Maharashtra and Karnataka after rice and wheat although at levels 50%
below that in 1972–73 level. The decline in per capita food consumption of sorghum however seems to be
plateauing at this lower level as indicated by data between 1999 and 2005. At the same time, the use of sorghum
in alternative uses has increased from about 5% since 1993–94 to 30% or more between 1999 and 2005. Our
estimates further indicate that of the total food use of sorghum only 50% is accounted for by rainy (kharif)
sorghum while the rest is from post-rainy (rabi sorghum). Thus, close to 50% of kharif sorghum goes for
alternative uses. These include demand from animal feed industry mainly poultry and to some extent dairy,
alcohol industry, starch industry, food processing and export demand. Almost the entire production of rabi
sorghum (except seed and waste) is used for human food. The potential demand for food processing, though at a
nascent stage, presents encouraging prospects for value addition.
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