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Ahead of the kharif sowing season, prices of certified soyabean seeds have shot up by over a third to around ₹70 a kg on reduced availability in States such as Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Excess rains last year had damaged the soyabean crop in these States and the quality was also affected.
However, the soyabean processing industry believes that the increase in seed prices may not impact the acreage as about 80-85 per cent of growers use the seeds retained by them from last year’s crop for sowing.
“The certified seed prices are hovering around ₹70 a kg over the last year’s price of about ₹50 a kg. As only a small fraction of farmers buy seeds, it should not have any bearing on the acreage,” said Rajesh Aggarwal, spokesperson for the Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA).
Last year, soyabean was planted on some 12.03 million hectares.
“Farmers are eagerly waiting for the monsoon to set in. If rains are normal and arrive on time, we can expect a slight increase in acreage,” Aggarwal said. However, with the delay in monsoon, the sowing could get pushed to July, he said.
A lower-than-expected crop last year resulted in a shortage of quality seeds this year. In Maharashtra, certified seed prices are ruling higher around ₹80 a kg.
Estimated shortageThe Agriculture Ministry has pegged the shortage of certified and quality soyabean seeds at 69,616 tonnes across the country. The total requirement of soyabean seeds for kharif is pegged at 3.43 lakh tonnes, whereas the availability is estimated at 2.73 lakh tonnes, according to official sources.
The Ministry has recently relaxed the norms relating to germination rate to boost seed supplies. The germination standard for soyabean seeds has been lowered to 60 per cent from 70 per cent. Farmers are being advised to plant more seeds per hectare to ensure that there is higher germination, officials said.
OutputThe Government has estimated soyabean output for 2013-14 at 11.94 million tonnes, lower than previous year’s 14.66 million tonnes. Prices are currently ruling at a high between ₹4,200 and ₹4,500 a quintal in markets such as Nagpur, Indore and Kota.
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