Farmers shift to maize as ethanol demand spikes and soy prices fall

The government's aim of reducing agricultural imports and making the country self-sufficient in oilseeds seems to be facing setbacks this kharif season due to unremunerative prices for farmers and a growing demand for ethanol.

- Vijay C Roy & Dhirendra Kumar

The area on which import-dependent crops such as oilseeds is sown has declined, according to data from the agriculture ministry on 25 July. The area under oilseeds dropped by 383,000 hectares from last year.

The fall in oilseeds sowing is mainly due to a sharp decline in the cultivation of soybean—India's main kharif oilseed crop—although there were small increases in areas under groundnut and sesamum. The total area of oilseeds cultivation dipped 2% to 16.7 million hectares, primarily due to a fall in soybean area by 3.8% to 11.7 million hectares. Soybean constitutes 65% of the area under oilseeds.