SOPA estimates 5 percent reduction in soybean sowing area
01-Jul-2025 04:39 PM
Indore. A leading industry body - Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) has expressed the possibility of a decline of about 5 percent in soybean production area during the current Kharif season as compared to last year, the reason for which is that many farmers may give priority to cultivation of other alternative crops like maize,
pigeon pea (tuvar) and cotton instead of soybean this time. Despite record government procurement in the 2024-25 marketing season, the wholesale market price of soybean remained well below the minimum support price (MSP) and farmers did not get attractive income.
According to the Executive Director of SOPA, the sowing area of soybean may decrease by about 5 percent overall, but a better estimate of the area will be available only after the sowing process is completed.
According to SOPA, last year soybean was cultivated in 117.48 lakh hectares in the country. Apart from top producing states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka, soybean sowing is still going on in other states.
Data from the Union Agriculture Ministry shows that the production area of this important oilseed at the national level has now surpassed last year, whereas earlier it was lagging behind.
According to SOPA, during the current year, till June 30, the area under soybean in the country had reached close to 43 lakh hectares.
This time the monsoon arrived before the scheduled time and this gave the farmers an opportunity to start sowing soybean early.
The sowing process is going on in full swing in all the producing states and broadly, the sowing campaign is expected to continue till July 15. Its sowing will be almost completed in these two weeks and after this, sowing can be done sporadically at some places.
According to SOPA, till the end of June this year, the production area of soybean reached 18.40 lakh hectares in Maharashtra, 15.40 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh, 3.70 lakh hectares in Rajasthan, 2.78 lakh hectares in Karnataka and 1.46 lakh hectares in Telangana.
In some parts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, soybean seeds did not germinate or had negligible germination, which would require re-sowing there.
According to SOPA, during the 2024-25 season, domestic production of soybean was 125 lakh tonnes with an average yield rate of 1064 kg per hectare.