India's soybean acreage set to rise 5-7% this kharif as prices beat MSP

India's soybean acreage set to rise 5-7% as prices beat the support level

India's soybean acreage is expected to rise 5-7 per cent in the kharif 2026 season as market prices ruling above the minimum support price (MSP) draw farmers in the key producing regions of Central India back to the oilseed, according to the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA), as reported by The Hindu Businessline. Sowing is almost complete in the main growing States.

Prices pull farmers back from maize

DN Pathak, Executive Director of SOPA, said field assessments show soybean sowing completed on roughly 80-90 per cent of the targeted area across the growing States. He expects acreage to rise about 5-7 per cent over last year, when soybean was planted on 114 lakh hectares, as farmers show a clear preference for the oilseed across all major producing States.

A section of farmers who had shifted to maize last year are switching back to soybean because of higher prices. Pathak said soybean is trading in the range of Rs 6,700-6,900 per quintal in Madhya Pradesh, well above the Rs 5,708 per quintal MSP the Centre has announced for the 2026-27 marketing season.

SOPA and government estimates diverge

Sowing started late this year because of the delayed onset of the South-West monsoon. As of July 8, SOPA estimated soybean acreage had crossed the 100 lakh hectare mark at 100.31 lakh hectares, well above the Agriculture Ministry's estimate of 57.92 lakh hectares. Pathak attributed the gap mainly to a reporting lag of 7-10 days in the official data.

• Madhya Pradesh: 44.25 lakh hectares per SOPA against the government's 25.96 lakh hectares.
• Maharashtra: 40.25 lakh hectares against the government's 23.58 lakh hectares.
• Rajasthan: 7.98 lakh hectares against the government's 4.94 lakh hectares.

Crop condition and the road ahead

With adequate rainfall across most of Madhya Pradesh, sowing has gained momentum and nearly 90 per cent of the area has been covered. In Rajasthan, sowing is roughly 90 per cent complete, while Maharashtra has reached about 80-90 per cent. SOPA said around 1-2 per cent of the sown area has been re-sown due to poor or failed germination in some locations after uneven rainfall.

The crop is generally in normal to satisfactory condition and is currently in the vegetative stage, with farmers carrying out weed management using both herbicides and manual methods. SOPA said the final production outlook will depend on the timely distribution and adequacy of rainfall during the remaining three months of the growing season. If weather stays favourable, the association said, the crop has the potential to deliver a higher harvest than the previous year.

For crushers and edible-oil buyers, a larger Indian soybean crop points to more domestic meal and oil in the months ahead, a factor for a country that leans heavily on imported vegetable oils. The acreage gain, however, is only the first signal; the size of the harvest still rests on the monsoon.