Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand launched a book on soybean farming at CESS in Hyderabad on Saturday. | Image credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
A book on ‘Economics and Technology of Soybean Cultivation in Central India’ was launched at the city’s Center for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) on Saturday.
The book was co-authored by Director of CESS E. Revathi and Associate Professor B. Suresh Reddy. The main guest of honor at the event was Ramesh Chand, a member of NITI Aayog, who gave a speech on soybean cultivation in India.
Also, a panel consisting of M. Raghunandan Rao, Commissioner of Agriculture, Telangana, Sanjay Gupta, Scientist, Indian Soybean Research Institute, Indore, and R. Jagadeeshwar, Research Director, Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, discussed various aspects of soybean.
gentlemen. Ramesh Chand said: “Soybean is the fourth most grown crop in India after rice, wheat and cotton. Soybean in India is a unique case study in agricultural diversification in rain-fed agriculture. About 30,000 hectares out of a total cultivated area of about 12 million hectares today. Soybean was introduced to India to address the lack of protein among its citizens, but it eventually became an oilseed crop. It can also be considered the only Green Revolution technology success.”
Soybean cultivation is dominated by three countries in the world, namely Brazil, Argentina and the United States. In India, the main states where it is grown are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Telangana.
In Telangana, soybeans are mainly grown in Adilabad, Nizamabad, Nirmal and Kamaredi. In 2017-18, the Telangana state government promoted soybean cultivation by providing seed subsidies to farmers.
Dr. Gupta added that soybean acreage in India is very small.