Chana:

Chana is also called Bengal Gram, Chick peas and Gram. Chana is one of the major crops in India contributing around 40%-45% in the total domestic pulses production. Chana belongs to the chickpea family and there are two main types - Desi and Kabuli. Desi chickpeas are the main type grown in India.

Chana is a good source of protein. It contains 25%-29% of protein, 5% fats and 55% carbohydrates. In India, chana is used in the form of chana dal and floar -popularly know as Besan.

Chana is one of the major crops in India contributing around 40%-45% in the total domestic pulses production.

• India is the leading producer of Chana in the world. India contributes 60%-65% in the world's total Chana production. In India, there are two varieties of Chana - namely Desi and Kabuli, which contribute around 85%-90% and 10%-15% in total Chana production respectively.
• In 2007-08, Gram production in India is 5.91 M tonnes.
• India's Chana production fluctuates between 4-7 million tons and is normally 40% of India's total pulse production of 12-15 million tons India's Chana production in 2003-04, Chana production is 5.33 million tons out of a total pulse production of 15.23 million tons.
• The major producing states are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan) and Maharashtra.
• The acreage under Chana keeps on changing year to year depending upon various factors such as weather, government policies and other remunerative crop of the season.

• Chana is a Rabi crop and is cultivated from November-December to February-March. The peak arrival period begins from March-April at the major trading centers of the country.

• India accounts for 2/3rd of the world's chickpea production. India imports around 3-4 lakh tons of chickpeas annually. The major countries from where India imports chickpeas are Canada, Australia, Iran and Myanmar.
• Indian Chana markets are highly fragmented, with very long value chain. The major players in the value chain are commission agents, brokers, stockists, wholesale traders, dal mills, wholesalers (dal) and retail outlets. The information flow between these participants is restricted and very slow.

• Chana can withstand moisture stress to a certain extent. However, 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.
• Stocks present with stockiest and the stocks-to-consumption ratio.
• Imports and the crop situation in the countries from where imports originate, viz., Canada, Australia, Myanmar.
• There is high substitutability between pulses in India among the consumers. So the price of other major pulses like tur, yellow peas, green peas etc also influence the prices of chana.