Nature and Causes of Growth and Instability of Soybean in Major States of India

The growth and instability of area, production and yield of soybean have been analysed in major soybean-producing states, and the factors affecting its area growth have been identified. The paper is based on the secondary data collected from publications of Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, for the period 1980 to 2011–12. The results have revealed that soybean area has grown at the rate of 9.6 per cent in the country during the period 1980–2012. The instability in area under soybean cultivation was very high during the initial phases but declined over time. Soybean production in the country has grown at the rate of 11.5 per cent annually during the period 1980–2012. The instability in production of soybean in the country has been worked out to about 22–23 per cent in all the decades analysed. The study has concluded that the scope for increasing production of soybean crop lies in increasing the yield levels. The relative price of soybean and its competitive crops, and price risk of these crops play a significant role in area expansion of soybean in the major states. The policy support in this direction will provide boost to crop area expansion.