Soya Cultivation

Subject – Agriculture

Context – The Centre brought soyameal under the ambit of the Essential Commodities Act

Concept –

The Centre brought soyameal — a key raw material to manufacture compound feed — under the ambit of the Essential Commodities Act and imposed stock limits on processors and traders with a view to increasing domestic supplies and checking price rise.

About Soyabean

Since time immemorial, Soyabean has served as meat, milk, cheese, bread as well as oil for the people of China and East Asia; and the ancient literature of those countries called it as “gold from soil”.
Off late, its versatility was recognized by the west, which called it “golden bean” or “miracle bean”.
Due to its immense potential as food, feed, fodder, fuel and industrial production, Soyabean is said to have revolutionized the agricultural economy of west, particularly of United States.

Global Production

Currently, United States is world’s largest Soyabean Producer with 89 million tonnes production every year.
United States is followed by Brazil and Argentina.

Production in India

With 12 million tonnes of production, Soyabean is one of the fastest growing crops in India.
Soyabean is grown as a Kharif Crop in India.
The top three Soyabean growing states are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Soyabean is key to Madhya Pradesh

“Malwa is India’s US Midwest and Indore its Chicago. And that’s only because of soyabean.”

The relative hardiness and shorter maturity — at least 10-15 days less than jowar (sorghum) or maize — made soyabean the ideal kharif crop.

Importance of Soyabean

Soyabean is recognized as one of the premier crops around the world. It’s a major source of vegetable oil, protein and animal feed.
Due to high protein content (>40%) and high oil content (>20%), Soyabean is considered to be an important food commodity.
The Soya Protein is called complete protein because it supplies sufficient amount of amino acids. Soyabean oil contains no cholesterol.

To know about Essential Commodities Act, please refer July 2021 DPN.