Soybean acreage in India to move up in 2012 13 Cotton to drop

Last Updated : 23 June 2012 at 12:05 IST Source :agencies

MUMBAI (Commodity Online): On the back of higher price realisation received by the soybean farmers in India, the acreage under the oilseed crop is estimated to move up this year, while area under cotton crop is likely to drop.

In 2011-12, the production of cotton increased to record levels of 35 million bales (1 bale =170 Kg), while the domestic requirement was just 25.3 million bales. This factor cause huge losses to farmers.

In addition to it, the global surplus production also damped the exports of the commodity.

As a result, the farmers are likely to turn to alternative crops, especially oilseeds. The production of cotton in India is estimated to dip to around 32.3 million tons in 2012-13.

Oilseeds, especially soybean, has received good price realisation and the demand for the commodity is likely to rise on increasing population in the country.

India imports more than 50% of the edible oil to meet the domestic requirement.

Also the Union government had raised the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for oilseeds to 37% (soybean by 30%). This has also attracted the farmers to turn to oilseeds.

According to Rajesh Agrawal, ex-chairman and spokesperson of the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA), the total acreage under soybean may touch 1.1 million hactare in 2012-13.

Major oilseeds production in the country is estimated to grow by 3% in 2012-13

Some farmers are also moving towards guar and maize too.

In NCDEX, soybean for July delivery traded up 0.08% to Rs 3742 per qtl and cotton for February delivery dropped 0.65% to Rs 997 per qtl on 23rd June at 11:15 IST.

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