NEW DELHI: India will buy soybeans from farmers of the central state of Madhya Pradesh at state-set support prices to help growers reeling from a crash in domestic rates for the oilseed, a government statement said on Wednesday.
India uses soybeans to manufacture soyoil, which helps the country cut its hefty edible oil imports, while the by-product soymeal is used for animal feed and exported mainly to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Farmers plant soybeans during the monsoon season in June and July and harvest the main summer oilseed crop from October.
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Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accepted a request from Madhya Pradesh to buy soybeans at the government-mandated support price, the statement said.
Prices of soybeans have dropped well below the government-set support price of 4,892 rupees ($58.27) per 100 kg, angering farmers.
Earlier, the government agreed to buy soybeans from growers of the western state of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh together account for nearly 70% of India’s total soybean output.
The government would also buy soybeans in the southern state of Karnataka.
Millions of farmers are seen as an influential voting bloc in India, the world’s leading producer of an array of crops such as rice, wheat, cane and cotton.
A spate of export curbs imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has already fuelled anger among farmers.
After Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party suffered losses in rural constituencies in this year’s general election, the government is keen to placate farmers ahead of state assembly elections in states such as Haryana and Maharashtra, political commentators say.
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