Soyabean stakeholders are upbeat about the prospects, with farmers set to expand acreages this year on higher realisations. The trade expects area under soyabean to rise this year as planting has begun in States like Karnataka, while growers are awaiting monsoon in the key producing regions of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

“We are expecting the soyabean acreages to increase again this year because of the good prices,” said D N Pathak, Executive Director, Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA), the apex trade body for the sector. However, it is too early to guess the quantum of area increase as lot would depend on various factors including monsoon.

Competes with cotton

Soyabean is set to face some competition from cotton in parts of Maharashtra, where the acreages under the fibre crop is set to rise due to higher prices. “Cotton is a strong contender, but soyabean has also given good and better returns. I am expecting increase in acreage to happen across every growing State due to good prices,” Pathak said.

In North Karnataka, where planting has begun, a section of farmers are seen shifting from pulses like tur to soyabean, especially in districts such as Kalaburgi and Bidar, growers said.

Impact of monsoon

Nita Khandekar, Director of Indore-based ICAR-Indian Institute of Soyabean Research(IISR) said prediction of soyabean is difficult as all depends on the monsoon. “Basically with variety replacement and a better situation of seeds, we expects a good year, weather permitting,” Khandekar said. The IISR is expected to release some new varieties this year.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, soyabean was planted in 123.67 lakh hectares during kharif 2021, while SOPA had pegged it lower at 119.98 lakh hectares. According to the third estimates released by the Ministry, soyabean output was pegged at 138.28 lakh tonnes, higher than the previous year’s 126.10 lakh tonnes. SOPA had pegged the output at 119 lakh tonnes.

Meanwhile, the soyabean crushing improved during May to about 7 lakh tonnes as compared to 6 lakh tonnes in the same period last year. The crushings had been lower till April as farmers and the traders had been holding back their produce. From October till May, the soyabean crushing stood at 53 lakh tonnes, down 30 per cent over corresponding period last year’s 75 lakh tonnes.

According to SOPA, stocks available with traders and farmers is estimated at 55.39 lakh tonnes, as of May-end. Soyabean prices, which had softened a bit in recent days, have started moving up again over the past one week. In Indore, the modal prices have moved up from ₹6,585 per quintal levels on June 1 to ₹6,740 on Monday.

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