Madhya Pradesh may see record soy production

Timely input supply, spread of the innovative ridge and furrow method of farming, a long spell of rain and availability of seeds have prompted the Madhya Pradesh government to project a new high in soy production this year, triggering fears of a price crash again.

If the projection comes true, the country will have a record high of 13.2 million tonnes (mt). The state agriculture department had earlier projected a 6.5-mt crop. Now, they estimate seven mt. The earlier record was 6.4 mt, in 2009. MP is known as the country’s soy bowl and produces more than half of the country’s eight to nine mt average.

“Our estimate for output was 6.5 mt but the arrivals in mandis show a different scene,” said D N Sharma, director, department of farmers welfare and development.

However, the Soybean Processors Association of India (Sopa) is not ready to buy this estimate. Sopa has put the all-India figure at 12.7 mt this year and 6.7 mt in MP. “It is true the yield has gone up but seven mt (for MP) is a little (too) big,” said Rajesh Agrawal, spoke-sperson for Sopa.

Stock arrivals have been less so far, says the Mandi Board. “We will see another spell of arrivals since the Shradh Paksha (inauspicious period for trading) is over now. Though productivity across the state has gone up, it (the total) might not cross 6.5 mt,” said A P S Solanki, additional director of the Board.

This year, said Sopa, productivity was 1,076 kg a hectare in MP and 1,127 kg across India; in Rajasthan, it was a record 1,393 kg a ha.