Chickpea Imports to India Slow Down

13-Jan-2026 08:28 PM

New Delhi: According to official data, the area under chickpea cultivation in the current Rabi season of 2025-26 has increased to 95.88 lakh hectares as of January 9, which is 4.66 lakh hectares or 5.11 percent more than the 91.22 lakh hectares sown during the same period last year. Similarly, the total area under Rabi pulses has also increased by 2.83 percent to 136.36 lakh hectares.

For the past two to three weeks, the domestic market price of chickpeas has been showing an upward trend.

Rahul Chauhan, Director and leading market analyst at I Grain India, says that the price of chickpeas is firming up due to improved domestic demand and slow import pace. Producers in Australia have started withholding chickpea stocks in anticipation of further price increases.

Farmers there are waiting for a price hike, even though Australia has had a bumper chickpea crop this year. They are confident of strong demand during Ramadan in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other Muslim-majority countries, which is expected to drive prices up.

Australia has produced a bumper crop of 21-22 lakh tonnes of chickpeas during the 2025-26 season, and producers will have to sell it sooner or later. Until significant sales begin, the pace of imports may remain slow.