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| Surinder Sud: Super soy |
| Surinder Sud / New Delhi Oct 06, 2009, 00:26 IST |
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It has double the protein most pulses have and, with some minor processing, can be very profitable for growers.
Oddly, soybean is considered an oilseed whereas, ideally, because of being a very rich source of protein, it should be treated as a pulse in a country like India where protein malnutrition is rampant. Soybean contains about 40 per cent of good quality protein which is about double that of ordinary pulses consumed in India. Its average productivity is also about 1 tonne a hectare, twice that of pulse crops. And like pulse crops, it draws nitrogen from the atmosphere and incorporates it in the soils to improve its fertility.
Its oil content, on the other hand, is only around 20 per cent, which is roughly half of groundnut’s 44 to 50 per cent and even lower than rapeseed-mustard’s 30 to 48 per cent.
Quality-wise, soy protein is amongst the best plant proteins. The pattern of essential amino acids in soybean matches closely with that recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Studies on the health benefits of soybean have indicated that it reduces the risk of heart diseases; is helpful in preventing cancer; and suits those suffering from diabetes and lactose intolerance.
However, there is one formidable glitch that comes in the way of its use as an ordinary pulse. It contains some anti-nutritional elements which need to be de-activated to make it safe for consumption as food. But the process to do so is simple and can be taken up at the household level or on a commercial scale by entrepreneurs to generate additional income and employment in rural or urban areas.
The Bhopal-based Soybean Processing and Utilisation Centre (SPU) has developed simple technology for soybean processing to make nearly 30 different protein-rich products for dietary use. It has, at the same time, developed over 20 processing equipment and pilot scale production units for making these products on a commercial scale.
The SPU Centre chief S D Kulkarni says about 1,000 potential entrepreneurs have already been trained in soy processing technology. Over 200 of them have set up soy processing units in different parts of the country like Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. They are manufacturing soy foods such as soy flour, soy milk, soy paneer, soy biscuits and the like, using the Bhopal Centre’s technology.
Techniques have been evolved even for making typical Indian products from soybean, such as soy-sattu, soy-suji, soy-sev, soy-idli, soy-dosa, soy-dhokla, soy-chakli, soy-shrikhand, soy-rasogulla, soy-gulabjamun, among others. Baked items like buns, muffins, cakes and bread can also be fortified with soybean to enhance their protein content.
Cottage-level manufacture of even an item like soyflour, the simplest of all the soy-based processed products, can yield a net annual profit of Rs 226,500 with a total investment of Rs 194,840, according to the SPU Centre’s reckoning.
Such a unit, with a production capacity of 100 kg of full-fat soy flour per day, needs fixed capital requirement of around Rs 143,880. This includes the cost of machinery, non-recurring expenditure and installation charges.
The working capital requirement for operating the unit for 15 days is estimated at around Rs 50,960. This includes the cost of raw material, wages of three workers and other contingency expenses.
Similar costing details for the manufacture of other soy products have also been worked out. A unit for the production of soy-fortified biscuits (50 kg biscuits per day capacity) can yield a net profit of Rs 121,800 a year with an investment of only Rs 113,750. These nutrition-enhanced biscuits are made by mixing 12 to 15 per cent soy flour with refined wheat flour (maida). About 1.80 kg biscuits can be made from one kg of fortified maida and other ingredients. The protein content of soy biscuits is usually 11 to 12 per cent, against 7 to 8 per cent in normal biscuits available in the market. The production cost of these biscuits has been estimated at around Rs 40 a kg. These can be sold at Rs 48 a kg or more.
Many soy products, especially soy milk and the products made from it, are already gaining popularity among health conscious urban consumers.The Bhopal Centre’s experts feel that they should be included in the government-sponsored nutrition programmes, such as mid-day meals — a suggestion worth considering given the urgent need for tacking the menace of protein malnutrition among the poor.
surinder.sud@gmail.com
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