Soybean is cultivated extensively in south Asian
countries and U.S.A.
In India Soybean cultivation is introduced in
1977.
In our country at the present time it is restricted
mainly to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra and Gujarat.
It is also grown on a small acreage in Himachal
Pradesh, Punjab and Delhi.
Even though it is the cheapest high quality vegetable
protein, we are yet to exploit its full potential.
Mainly the Japanese and Chinese consume it as the
Chinese gourmet. Chinese create their delicious works of art with soya.
In India people started liking this pulse mainly
among the vegetarians. It is a boon to the vegetarians.
Soybean contains the highest protein among the
pulses.
Other than the whole pulse, lots of processed Soya
products are available in the market. They include soya milk, soya flour,
Soya curd and tofu (soya paneer).
The first domestication of soybean has been traced to
the eastern half of North China in the eleventh century B.C. or perhaps
a bit earlier.
Soybean has been one of the five main plant foods of
China along with rice, soybeans, wheat, barley and millet.
According to early authors, soybean production was localized
in China until after the Chinese-Japanese war of 1894-95, when the Japanese
began to import soybean oil cake for use as fertilizer.
Shipments of soybeans were made to Europe about 1908,
and the soybean attracted worldwide attention.
Europeans had been aware of soybeans as early as 1712
through the writing of a German botanist.
Some soybean seed may have been sent from China by missionaries
as early as 1740 and planted in France.
The soybean was a recent introduction to India, probably
introduced into India from China, Japan and South east Asia via the
Naga Hills and Minipur, at the far eastern tip of India.
Production of soybean in India at the present time is
restricted mainly to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Gujarat.
It is also grown on a small acreage in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and
Delhi.
Ikisan - Area, production and productivity of soya
Area, Production and Productivity
Soybean is the most popular oilseed in the country after
groundnut and soy meal is the largest produced oil meal in the country.
India produces 5-7 million tons of beans, 1 million ton
of oil and 3-5 million tons of soy meal in a normal year. Madhya Pradesh
(3.5-4.5 million tons), Maharashtra, Rajasthan are the major producers
of soybean in India. In UttarPradesh the soybean cultivation has started
gearing up in the recent years.
In 2003-04 (Apr-Mar), India is estimated to have crushed
51.64 Lakh tons of soybeans to produce 42.35 Lakh tons of soy meal and
9.3 Lakh tons of soy oil.
Soy is a kharif crop, sown in June-July and harvested
by September-October. Peak arrivals are from October-November.
India is one of the major exporters of soy meal to the
Asian countries. South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Japan are some
of the major importers of soy meal from the country.
India typically exports around 65% of the country's soy
meal production currently. Soy meal accounted for 84% of the total edible
oilseed meal exports from the country.
This leaves around 1-2 million tons for the consumption
of the domestic poultry and cattle feed industry.
India, does not import soy meal to meet the requirements
of the domestic feed industry, as the price equation inclusive of transports
does not work in favour of imports.
Countrywise area, production and productivity of Soybean
in the world during 2004
In India 16 parts of whole oil production is soya oil.
In India Soybean is produced 70% in Madhya Pradesh, 18% in Maharashtra,
and 09% in Rajasthan. Rs.2000 crores as Foreign Exchange is earned by
exporting Soybean cake.
In last decade, Soybean production has increased tremendously.
When area covered under Soybean cultivation was in 1990-91 20 lakhs
hec.has increased in 1998-99 to 58 lakhs hec.
History