Last year’s handsome returns from cotton and sugarcane will lure farmers to switch from soybean this kharif season, but the decline in total acreage will be minimum as the fall in area in one state would be offset by an increase in another, according to Soybean Processors’ Association of India(SOPA).
“It is certain that the area under soybean would decrease. Some people say the total area could decline by 15-20 per cent this year at an all-India level. But in my view, it should not go down by more than five per cent,” Rajesh Agrawal, coordinator and spokesperson of SOPA said.
Compared to 9.5 million ha soybean sowing area in kharif 2009, the acreage may be around 9 million tonnes this year, he felt.
Soybean crop year is Oct-Sep. Even though soybean acreage may shrink in west central India, unlike the previous years when sustained growth was seen, a rise in acreage in south India should offset the fall, said Agrawal, who is also the managing director of city-based feed meal supplier Premier Protein.
“Area in southern states, mainly in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka should rise because they are consuming states. If the monsoon rains are good, we could see rise in soybean area in Rajasthan also,” he said.
SOPA officials said that in Madhya Pradesh, the leading producer, the leeway for farmers to switch for other crops was limited because of unsuitable environment for crop growth. “They (farmers) do not have options in Madhya Pradesh to go for other crops, because the climatic conditions, soil texture and water availability will not permit them to do so despite a good monsoon. Even if there is a fall, it should be 2-4 per cent,” said Prem Agrawal, convenor of Soybean Development
Programme in SOPA
The Madhya Pradesh government has fixed this year’s soybean acreage target at 5.3 million ha, which is normal, SOPA officials said.
Last year too, farmers in the central Indian state planted 5.3 million ha area of soybean, according to SOPA data.
“But I am not sure about Maharashtra,” Prem Agrawal said.
Maharashtra has favourable farming conditions for cotton, sugarcane and soybean. It is the second largest producer of both soybean and sugarcane and has the top position in national cotton output. “We are waiting for the exact acreage scenario in Maharashtra after the monsoon rains, as major shifting of crops will take place there. But in my view the area could dip by 400,000 ha at the best,” Rajesh Agrawal said.
Last year, soybean was sown across 3 million ha in Maharashtra. The fall in sowing area nationwide is already visible in the latest data released by the Union Ministry of Agriculture. Total kharif oilseed sowing in the country had slumped to 27,000 ha by May 28 as against 47,000 ha in the same period last year, according to the ministry report.
