India may not import more than 5 lakh tonne of desi chickpeas (chana) from Australia during the next marketing season (November 2025-October 2026), as the harvest of the pulse in April 2026 could be higher. Besides, imports of yellow peas by India could be another discouraging factor, a Webinar on desi chickpeas update was told.
“Despite the 10 per cent duty on chickpeas, Indian importers are buying the pulse. Last year, by this time, importers had traded 8 lakh tonne. They have not traded even 2 lakh tonne till now. India may not buy more than 5 lakh tonne,” said Binod Agarwal, Managing Partner of SGR Agristeel.
Last year, Australia exported 1 lakh tonne in October, 4.5-5 lakh tonne in November and 1 mt to India. “That does not seem to be happening now,” said Jay Saraff of Australia’s Mandala Trading.
Up 5 times this season
Data from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry show that chickpeas exports during the current marketing year increased five times to nearly 2 mt from around 4 lakh tonne last season. Of this, about 1.4 mt were shipped to India.
Current sentiments are not favouring imports of chickpeas. The pulse is being traded in the range of $470-480 a tonne cost and freight (CFR). “Indian importers will be active if chickpeas are available in the $450-70 range and the import duty remains at 10 per cent,” said Agarwal.
The Indian government policy on the import duty is unlikely to change at least until March 31, 2026 since it faces criticism for taking short-term decisions. “So, the decision will be long term,” he said.
Usually, the chickpea crop, grown during the rabi season with harvest in April, turns out to be good after heavy rain and it was likely this marketing year too, the SGR Agristeel managing partner said. However, prices of black matpe (urad) and pigeon peas (tur) have increased as heavy rain has affected these pulses crops.
40% price drop
Saraff said, “Chickpeas prices have dropped 40 per cent in the past year. Last year, they were traded at $800-900 a tonne during the same time. Prices have hit the bottom and it may not be worth selling chickpeas. It will be tough to predict their CFR prices, though it could be $470,” he said.
However, Saraff sees chickpeas bottoming in the $450-500 a tonne range.
Data from the Global Pulses Confederation (GPC), which organised the Webinar, show that forward contracts for November were signed by Australian growers at $490 a tonne. Tanzania has signed forward contracts for supply to Pakistan at $560 for the same period.
Samir Esmail of Afrisian Ginning Ltd, Tanzania, said some of the consignments heading to Pakistan were being switched to India.
Saraff said, “If India does not come to the market for Australian chickpeas, then it could create problems. India needs to buy but the question is the price at which it buys,” he said.
Yellow peas check
If chickpeas prices continue to rule low, Australian growers may switch the way they trade by retaining the pulse and selling barley and wheat upfront to meet their cash needs, he said. The carryover stocks of chickpeas from the current marketing season are almost nil.
SGR’s Agarwal said the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARES) has estimated the chickpea crop at 2.1 mt. “But we hear the crop could be as high as 2.5 mt. Anything above 2 mt is excess,” he said.
India has 1.65 mt of chickpea stocks in the pipeline, including the produce procured at minimum support price (MSP) through the price support system.
“The government is retaining its procurement, while farmers are expected to continue bringing chickpeas until November-December. So, there should be no supply problem over the next 2-3 months,” Agarwal said, adding that in addition duty-free yellow peas imports would keep prices of chickpeas lower.
Canada is selling yellow peas to India at $340 a tonne, while Russia and Ukraine are offering them at $330 a tonne, GPC data showed.
Tanzanian option
Agarwal said chickpeas production in 2025 was 7 mt in India, which is lower than the government’s estimate of 11 mt. “Had the production been as per government’s estimates, we would not have seen so much imports,” he said.
Afrisian’s Esmail said Tanzania’s crop is estimated at 1.7-1.8 lakh tonne and sales of 1.1 lakh tonne have been through the Tanzania Mercantile Exchange.
Indian importers are showing interest in Tanzania chickpeas, and the African nation has sold 30,000-40,000 tonne so far.
Mandala Trading’s Saraff said the Australian chickpea crop is looking good and it could even rise to 2.3-2.4 mt against ABARES’ estimate of 2.1 mt. He said less than 3 lakh tonne of chickpeas have been trade so far from the new crop.
Published on October 9, 2025