India's soybean output seen rising 10.5pc in 2011/12

MUMBAI: India's soybean output in 2011/12 is likely to rise 10.5 percent to 10.5 million tonnes as farmers plant a larger area with the crop and rains are adequate, fuelling chances soymeal exports may rise in the year, a senior industry official said.

"Area is up. Weather is so far good in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Production should rise by one million tonnes from last year's level," B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA), said on the sidelines of a conference.

In 2010/11 the country produced 9.5 million tonnes of soybean, the main summer-sown oilseed crop.

Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are the country's top two producing states, accounting for over 85 percent of total output. Soybean is crushed to produce soymeal and oil.

As on Aug. 5, the acreage under soybean in India stood at 10.01 million hectares against 8.97 million hectares a year ago, farm ministry data showed last week.

Soybean production could rise by up to one million tonnes, but the weather will need to remain normal in August, a key month for the crop's vegetative growth and flowering, said Dorab Mistry, a leading industry analyst.

Copyright Reuters, 2010