The Government has procured over 14.73 lakh tonnes of soyabean at the minimum support price of ₹4,892 per quintal till February 11 this year. Over half of this procurement has been made in Maharashtra, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
As per the NAFED data, the soyabean procurement at MSP was over 8.36 lakh tonnes in Maharashtra, while it exceeded 3.88 lakh tonnes in Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan, the procurement was 98,866 tonnes, while in Telangana it was 83,075 tonnes.
In Gujarat, the soyabean procurement by the Government agencies was over 48,054 tonnes, while in Karnataka it was 18,282 tonnes. The procurement process is likely to have ended in most of the soyabean producing States.
As per the first advance estimates released in November, the Government is expecting the soyabean crop for 2024-25 at 133.60 lakh tonnes, up from previous year’s 130.62 lakh tonnes. Modal prices of soyabean ranged between ₹3700-4700 per quintal in various mandis of Madhya Pradesh, the largest producing state, on Monday.
Crushing fall
Meanwhile, the Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA), the apex trade body for the sector, said about 42.50 lakh tonnes of soyabeans have been crushed till January-end, about 10 per cent lower than the corresponding last year’s 47 lakh tonnes. As of January-end, stocks with farmers, plants and traders are estimated at 57.40 lakh tonnes.
SOPA, which has estimated a crop size of 125.82 lakh tonnes for the 2024-25 oil year starting October, has pegged the market arrivals of soyabean at 57.50 lakh tonnes till end-January, lower than the same period last year’s 62 lakh tonnes.
- Also read: Government credit guarantee scheme of ₹1,000 crore to push e-NWR adoption: NeRL
The production of soyabean meal is also estimated at 33.54 lakh tonnes till end-January, down from corresponding last years 37.09 lakh tonnes. Exports of soyabean meal till end-January were lower at 7.96 lakh tonnes, down from corresponding last year’s 9.34 lakh tonnes.
Lower feed demand
At the same time, the offtake from the domestic feed sector till January-end was lower at 22.50 lakh tonnes (24 lakh tonnes in corresponding period last year), while the food sector demand was also lower at 2.85 lakh tonnes (3 lakh tonnes) for the period.
France, with over 1.27 lakh tonnes, followed by Germany, with over 1.03 lakh tonnes, were the largest buyers of Indian soyameal till January in the oil year 2024-25 starting October.