FOLLOWING the closure of warehouses and commodity depots in each township triggered by the COVID-19 threat, the pulses trade is on the verge of suspension.
The domestic bean market is positively related to the law of supply and demand. The price depends on the buyers and sellers. There is no official set price, the traders stressed.
Some traders do price negotiation over the call as the warehouses and the wholesale centres are temporarily closed. Sometimes, they experience difficulties, said a trader
As the COVID-19 infections are spiking in Myanmar, agricultural exports to China through border posts also came to an abrupt stop, resulting in the price slip in green gram, sesame and peanut.
Nonetheless, the prices of black beans and pigeon beans remain high on the back of strong demand by India. However, the pulses trading in the domestic market is nearly halted in the meantime.
More than 1.66 million tonnes of various pulses and beans were exported to foreign markets between 1 October and 9 July of the current financial year 2020-2021, with the estimated value of US$1.29 billion, the Commerce Ministry’s data indicated.
Myanmar’s agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s economy and it contributes to over 30 per cent of Gross Domestic Products. The country primarily cultivates paddy, corn, cotton, sugarcane, various pulses and beans. Its second-largest production is the pulses and beans, counting for 33 per cent of agricultural products and covering 20 per cent of growing acres. Among them, black gram, pigeon peas and green grams constitute 72 per cent of bean acreage. Other beans including peanut, chickpea, soybean, black-eyed beans, butter bean and rice bean are also grown in the country. – Mon Mon/GNLM
