Nearly 49% Marathwada land will cultivate soybean in Kharif season

Nearly 24.86 lakh hectares of land in Marathwada will come under soybean cultivation in the upcoming Kharif season, an official said on Monday.

As per the Maharashtra agriculture department's estimates, soybean may be cultivated on 24.86 lakh hectares, which comes to 49 per cent land, in Marathwada, he said.

The above estimate was presented by officials during the recent review meeting for the upcoming Kharif season chaired by state Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar in Aurangabad.

Cotton, soyabean, tur dal and corn may be preferred in Marathwada in the upcoming Kharif season, he said.

The proposed area under soybean cultivation is 24.86 lac hectares, followed by cotton (13.91 lakh hectares), tur dal (4.44 lakh hectares) and corn (2.31 lakh hectares), the data stated

Mahabeej company will provide 67,000 quintals of seeds, while private companies will provide 4.50 lakh quintals and farmers have 24 lakh quintals to meet the need, it was stated.

The state has made available 7.17 lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers and it will also have a buffer stock to meet the requirement, it said.