India ready to buy more pulses from Malawi

Indian High Commissioner to Malawi Duvvuri Rao says his country is ready to double its importation of pulses from Malawi because India is  one of the biggest  consumers of pulses in the world.

Speaking in an interview in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, after donating medical equipment to the Kamuzu Central Hospital on Thursday, Rao said Malawi should grow more pulses including chick peas and soya because India is a vast market.

“In India, we consume a lot of chick peas and soya. When cooked, the peas and soya are consumed together with bread and rice and a lot of people enjoy such meals in our country,” said Rao.

Rao said it is to the advantage of Malawi to exploit the big Indian market by growing a lot of pulses because the volumes being exported now are not enough.

Rao, however, could not give specific figures on how much the country is importing every year only saying the volumes are huge but can be increased.

He said currently the Indian government is helping Malawi improve its agriculture sector so that it grows more crops both for consumption and export.

“The Indian Technical Cooperation (ITEC) has sent technical experts who are going to help Malawi boots its agriculture sector, especially the cotton industry,” said Rao.

Rao said Malawi can also learn a lot from India, especially in agriculture and there was need for the two countries to work closely together.

Recently Malawi got a loan of $76.5 million from India for the purposes of improving the Green Belt Initiative as well as the setting up of a sugar plantation in Salima.

Farmers Union of Malawi president Felix Jumbe said it was encouraging to hear that there is large market for pulses in India and asked government to help scale up the growing of pulses in the country.

“As a country, we need to grow as much crops as possible as one way of generating forex. If India says it is ready to buy more pulses then we have to work extra hard to make sure that we grow more pulses for export,” said Jumbe.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ulemu Chilapondwa also welcomed the development, saying it will create competition among buyers of agricultural produce in the country.

“What the Indian High Commissioner is saying is a welcome development because we want our farmers to grow more crops like pulses and soya which should be bought at very good prices,” said Chilapondwa.

He said if farmers are given a chance to sell crops such as soya and pulses at competitive prices, they will automatically increase hectarage which in the end will benefit the whole country.