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The area under soyabean is set to rise by five per cent this kharif season, despite an anticipated fall in area in the largest producing State of Madhya Pradesh, an industry association said on Friday.
The Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA), the apex body for the sector, said the oilseed has been planted on 104 lakh hectares (lh) as on July 15. Based on its quick survey, SOPA expects a 10 per cent decline in soyabean area in Madhya Pradesh, where farmers have shifted to other crops such as maize and pulses for various reasons such as weak rainfall, besides high prices and shortage of seeds. “Soyabean is gaining area in every other State such as Maharashtra, Karantaka, Telangana and Gujarat among others. We expect overall area to increase by about five per cent, despite a decline in MP and Rajasthan,” D N Pathak, Executive Director, SOPA told BL . “Overall, the germination is good. Re-sowing has been witnessed in some areas in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan due to poor germination,” Pathak said.
‘Break’ monsoon
Soyabean has been sown on about 48 lh in MP as of July 15 as per SOPA estimates, while the Government estimates peg it at 41.86 lh. Normal area for soyabean is 58 lh in MP. The lower acreage is mainly due to the ‘break’ monsoon took in central India for couple of weeks last month.
“In MP, soyabean area is expected to reduce by 10 per cent compared with 2020, as farmers have switched to other crops such as black gram, maize, moong in districts such as Sehore, Vidisha, Harda, Hoshangabad, Sagar, Damoh, Guna, and Ashok Nagar, mostly due to higher price of seed and non-availability of good quality certified seed,” Pathak said.
Delay in monsoon
Similarly in Rajasthan, due to the delay in monsoon, sowing of soyabean has been affected badly. As per SOPA’s estimates, soyabean has been planted on about 6 lh in Rajasthan against the normal 11 lh. However, in Maharashtra, SOPA said that soyabean has been planted on 42 lh, higher than the normal area of 40.39 lh. “We expect soyabean area in Maharashtra to increase by more than 15 per cent, while in other States the area is expected to rise by five to 10 per cent,” Pathak said.
Though sowing is almost complete, there are concerns of moisture stress in some areas, mostly in MP and Rajasthan, where early sowing was done.
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