Mumbai: India's soybean acreage is expected to increase this year as four-year-high prices and forecasts of below-normal monsoon rainfall due to El Nino encourage farmers to shift from water-intensive crops such as sugarcane and corn to the oilseed, farmers and industry officials told Reuters.
Soybean is India's main summer-sown oilseed crop and higher output will help the world's biggest importer of edible oils to cap overseas buying of palm oil, soyoil and sunflower oil. It will also ease domestic soybean and soymeal prices, benefiting India's poultry industry, the largest consumer of soymeal.
"Farmers switched from soybean to corn last year. But with soybean offering better returns than corn, many are expected to shift back to the oilseed this season," said Manoj Agrawal, managing director of Maharashtra Oil Extractions, a soymeal producer and exporter.
Also Read: India eyes biofertilisers after Mideast war stoked supply fears
Soybean prices climbed to 7,587 rupees per 100 kg last month, a four-year high and well above the government's support price of 5,328 rupees, while corn prices remain below the floor price of 2,400 rupees for the year.
Indian farmers planted soybeans on 12 million hectares in 2025, and industry officials expect the area to rise by up to 10% this year.
The farmers usually begin planting soybeans and other summer-sown crops in June with the arrival of monsoon rains, which are expected this year to be the weakest in 11 years due to the emergence of the El Nino weather pattern.
Also Read: Hormuz may reopen, but fertiliser relief is still months away for India
Concerns over rainfall have increased the appeal of soybeans, which require less water than corn and sugarcane, crops that compete with the oilseed in some parts of the country.
"We usually grow sugarcane, but since there is a forecast of less rain, we are planning to grow soybeans this time because they need much less water than sugarcane," said Manoj Kale, a farmer based in Solapur in the western state of Maharashtra.
Soybean acreage is likely to rise, but rainfall during monsoon will be key in determining yields, said D.N. Pathak, executive director of the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA).
India's soybean imports are expected to rise to a record 900,000 tons this year, driven by lower production last year.
"Soybean oil imports have been rising in recent years, and higher production is expected to help curb imports," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.
India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
