Due to favorable weather, soybean production increased, SOPA gave important information

Indore : A major organization related to soybean processors has expressed the possibility of increase in soybean production in view of the current weather conditions in the country. Giving information on Tuesday, an official of the organization said that during the current Kharif season, soybean production has increased by 6 percent to around 126 lakh tonnes, whereas its quantity has remained the same as in the previous season.

DN Pathak, executive director of Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) told PTI, “This time the distribution of monsoon rains in the major soybean producing areas of the country was good, due to which the crop yield has increased. Crop production also increased due to farmers adopting advanced farming methods.”

He said that during the last Kharif season, the average productivity of soybean per hectare in the country was 1,002 kg, whereas this time this quantity has increased to 1,063 kg. Pathak told that after soybean sowing during the Kharif season of 2023, due to lack of rain for 3 weeks in the major soybean producing sector in the month of August, there was a serious shortage of moisture in the fields, as a result of which the productivity of the crop fell. Went.

SOPA estimates that this time during the Kharif season in the country, soybean was sown in 118.32 lakh hectares and its yield was 125.82 lakh tonnes. According to the data of the organization, during the Kharif season of 2023, soybean was sown in a total of 118.55 lakh hectares in the country and the yield of this oilseed crop was around 118.74 lakh tonnes.

According to SOPA, this time in Madhya Pradesh, the country's largest soybean producer, this oilseed crop was sown in about 52 lakh hectares and its production was at the level of 55.40 lakh tonnes. According to the organization, in the current Kharif season, 50.17 lakh tonnes of soybean production is estimated from 45 lakh hectare area in Maharashtra, whereas in Rajasthan, this oilseed crop was sown in 11.13 lakh hectare and its yield has reached around 10.53 lakh tonnes.

India imports about 60 percent of its edible oil requirement. In such a situation, experts believe that to achieve the ambitious goal of self-reliance in the production of edible oils, there is a need to increase the production of major oilseed crops like soybean in the country. The central government has fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of soybean for the marketing season 2024-25 at Rs 4,892 per quintal, increasing it by Rs 292 from Rs 4,600 per quintal in the previous session.