The government is likely to impose stock-holing limit on urad to check soaring prices. Prices of urad have been rising since the past few weeks due to a decline in production in the 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) kharif season. According to the farm ministry's first advance estimate, kharif urad crop production in 2019-20 is pegged at 2.4 mln tn compared with 2.6 mln tn last year. In Mumbai, urad is selling at 6,500-6,650 rupees per 100 kg today, compared with 6,200-6,500 rupees on Wednesday. A decline in overall pulses output in the kharif season may also push prices higher. In 2019-20, farmers have harvested 8.2 mln tn pulses compared with 8.6 mln tn in the year-ago period. Prices are expected to rise further as the deadline for imports under the quantitative quota is also over. Traders have imported about 90% of the limit. However, pulses traders said the government should allow an extension to import urad instead of imposing a stock limit. The All India Dal Millers Association had earlier sought an extension till Dec 31 to import pulses, including urad. The fresh crop will hit spot markets in a month. A portion of the crop in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra was damaged due to heavy rainfall.