General Characteristics

• Masur (Lentil) is probably the oldest of grain legumes to be domesticated.  
• Lentil is a nutritious food legume. It is cultivated for its seed and mostly eaten as dal. Dal is seed that is decorticated and split. 
• They are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates and are high in fibre and in protein. 
• Lentils are a cool season crop with a restricted root system that is only moderately resistant to high temperatures and drought. Lentils have proven to be invaluable in crop rotation, helping to control weeds, diseases and insects, as well as improving soil texture and fertility.

Global Scenario

• Globally around 40 lakh tons of masur (lentil) is produced a year. India, Canada and Turkey are the largest producers of lentils in the world. India is the largest producer with a share above 25% of the total global production. 
• Though India is largest producer, Canada is largest exporter with a 50 % share of the export market. The other important exporters are the USA, Australia and Turkey. 
• Production data available from the FAO suggests dry edible beans account for up to a third of world pulse output, followed by field peas at around 20%; chickpeas at 13%; broad beans at 7%; and lentils, cowpeas and pigeon peas at roughly 6%. 

Indian Scenario

• In India masur or Lentil is grown on an area of about 14 lakh hectares with an annual output of about 8-11 lakh tons. 
• Masur is mainly cultivated in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar and to a small extent in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Assam. 
• It grows well on the light loamy and alluvial soils of north India and in well-drained light black soils of Madhya Pradesh. In Madhya Pradesh it is cultivated in Sagar, Jabalpur, Bundelkhand and Bhopal, in Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur and at Kota in Rajasthan.
• Masur is a rabi crop. It is sown during Nov-Dec and harvested during Feb - March with peak arrivals during April.
• India exports around 1 lakh tons of masur dal and imports around 0.5 lakh tons of masur a year. While exports are mainly to Sri Lanka, Egypt, UAE, Sudan, Yemen and Bangladesh, imports are from Canada, Australia, Turkey and USA.
• Among the different pulses grown in the country, the respective share of production has been: chickpea (bengal gram / chana) 40.50 %; pigeon pea (tur /arhar) 17.90 %; green gram (moong) 9.20 %; black gram (urad) 9.10 %; lentils (masur) 6.10 % and other minor pulses 17.20 %.

Price Volatility

Masur prices display seasonality with the prices generally low during March to July when the new crop arrives in the market.

Market Influencing Factors

• The production highly fluctuates between years, depending on the rains received and the moisture availability in the soil. 
• The sentiments of traders play a significant role currently, as a consequence of the lack of free-flow of information. 
• There is high substitutability between pulses in India among the consumers. So, price of other major pulses like chana, tur, yellow peas, green peas etc. also influence the prices of masur.
• Besides this, production of the other leading exporting countries like Turkey, Canada, USA and Australia also influence the prices to great extent.

Indian Pulse Scenario

• In India, pulses are grown on 22-23 million hectares area with an annual production of 13-15 million tons and per hectare of yield of 600-650 kg. 
• The important states engaged in growing pulses are Madhya Pradesh 22.90 %; Uttar Pradesh 18.12 %; Maharashtra 14.25 %; Rajasthan 10.84 %; Andhra Pradesh 8.64 %; Karnataka 5.76 % and others 19.49 %.