Acreage under soybean has shrunk to 48 lakh hectares in the kharif season due to scanty rainfall in country's soybowl Madhya Pradesh.
Soybean acreage touched around 48 lakh hectares till August 10, against the target of 53 lakh hectares in the season, a state agriculture department official said.
Sowing has almost ended in the state and in the last kharif season, sowing was done on 54.01 lakh hectares, he said, adding that farmers were shying away from soybean crop following a long dry spell during the monsoon.
A large number of farmers in the state chose to sow pulses like tur, moong and urad instead of traditional soybean during kharif.
Soybean crop needs adequate water for proper growth and maturity, he said.
The Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) chairman Davis Jain said the soybean crop has been adversely affected due to scanty rains and the factor is likely to hit its production as well.
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