Indore, Jul 11 (PTI) A leading association of soybean processors on Tuesday estimated that the crop has been sown in about 90.50 lakh hectares in the country during the current kharif season.

The organisation -- Indore-based Soybean Processors' Association of India (SOPA) -- believes soybean sowing this season might be slightly less than the last time due to the delay in the arrival of monsoon and the preference of farmers for other crops.

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SOPA said of the total 90.50 lakh hectares where soybean was sown till July 10, 42.66 lakh hectares was in Madhya Pradesh, the country's largest soybean producer, where the crop is popularly known as "yellow gold" among farmers.

According to the latest data of the organisation, soybean has been sown in 30.8 lakh hectares in Maharashtra, 10.28 lakh hectares in Rajasthan, 2 lakh hectares in Karnataka, 1.85 lakh hectares in Gujarat, 1.65 lakh hectares in Telangana, 35,000 hectares in Chhattisgarh and 85,000 hectares in other states.

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SOPA Executive Director DN Pathak told PTI, "Monsoon has been delayed this time in soybean-growing areas, and a section of farmers shifted to rice, arhar and other pulse crops."

He said the sowing of soybean in the country will end within a week and the sowing area might be slightly less than the last time.

During the 2022 kharif season, soybean was sown in 114.50 lakh hectares across the country and the production was around 124 lakh tonnes, as per the data.

The central government has fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of soybean for the 2023-24 season at Rs 4,600 per quintal, increasing it by Rs 300 per quintal in the previous season.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)