India’s soybean acreage to shrink as farmers favour corn, sugar cane

Soybean acreage in India is likely to fall this year as corn and sugar cane could replace it in some areas after these crops gave higher returns to farmers than the oilseed, farmers and industry officials told Reuters. Soybean is India’s main summer-sown oilseed crop and lower output will force the world’s biggest importer of edible oils to increase overseas buying of palm oil, soyoil and sunflower oil. “We’ve barely made any profit from soybean over the past three years, so this year we’re switching to corn — it’s giving better returns,” said Subodh Parmar, a farmer in Devas in Madhya Pradesh state. Soybean prices were under pressure in the last few months, which is prompting farmers to switch to other crops, said D.N. Pathak, executive director of the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA). The government fixed a floor price of 4,892 rupees ($57.29) per 100 kg for soybean, but since the start of the new marketing year in October 2024, prices have been 10 to 20% below ...