India fulfills about 57 percent of its edible oil needs through imports. Every year about 20.56 billion dollars is spent on import of edible oils. On the other hand, farmers cultivating soybean in the country are not getting fair prices.
The central government has fixed the minimum support price of soybean at Rs 4600 per quintal, but in soybean producing Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, soybean prices are below the MSP and farmers are facing losses.
According to the government portal Agmarket, this month the average price of soybean in the agricultural markets of Madhya Pradesh has been Rs 4,385 per quintal, which is below the MSP and 14.61 percent less than last year. Even in Maharashtra, a major soybean producer, the price of soybean has remained below the MSP with a decline of 14.15 percent compared to last year.
This is the average price of the mandis of both the states this month. In fact, in many mandis the minimum price of soybean has fallen to Rs 3000-3500, whereas two years ago the price of soybean had gone above Rs 10,000 per quintal.
After getting good prices, the inclination of farmers increased towards soybean, but this year again soybean is proving to be a loss-making deal for the farmers.
Anil Ghanwat, leader of the Shetkari Sangathan in Maharashtra, told Rural Voice that this is the third consecutive year when farmers are not getting the price for soybean. On one hand, the government talks about increasing oilseed production, whereas due to import of cheap edible oils, the oilseed farmers of the country are not able to get even the MSP declared by the government.
Farmer leader of Madhya Pradesh Ram Inania says that the price of good quality soybean is hardly Rs 4000-4100 per quintal. In many places the rates are even lower than this. Farmers are facing a loss of Rs 500-700 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 4600. There should be a legal guarantee of MSP to ensure that the prices of produce do not go below the MSP.
This time soybean was damaged due to bad weather. Many farmers did not sell soybean and kept it in stock, waiting for the price to rise after harvest.
In view of Holi, Ramzan and upcoming wedding season, soybean prices were expected to increase in March. But even now the prices of soybean have not increased as per the expectations of the farmers. Last February, the average price of soybean in Madhya Pradesh was Rs 4300 per quintal, whereas in March it is Rs 4385 with a slight increase.