India’s soybean output expected to jump 10 percent

India’s soybean production is expected to jump 10 percent from a year ago to more than 10 million tons, thanks to monsoon rains.

India’s soybean production is expected to jump 10 percent from a year ago to more than 10 million tons, thanks to monsoon rains, according to a report.

“The soybean area will remain steady this year, but productivity will go up due to good and timely rainfall,” Pravin Lunkad, president of Mumbai-based industry body the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), said in the report. “We are expecting 10 million tons plus this year compared to last year’s 9 million tons.”

Top growing states Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra – which account for more than 85 percent of the country’s total soybean output — have received significantly higher rainfall totals than normal since June 1, helping farmers to speed up harvest, Lunkad said.

Lunkad said more soybean production this year could mean lower local soybean meal prices, making exports of cattle feed to South Asia and Iran feasible.

China to resume rapeseed meal imports

Lunkad also said China is likely to resume imports of rapeseed meal in about a month, after they were halted in 2011 on worries over contamination.

China and India have signed a “sanitary protocol” and agreed to ensure Indian meal meets China’s standards.

“Anytime within a month exports will resume,” Lunkad said. “China has identified five crushing plants. Those plants will be allowed to export.”

Before the ban, China imported about 400,000 tons of rapeseed meal per year from India.

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