An economic analysis of soybean cultivation in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

Soybean is the second important oilseed crops grown in different parts of India after groundnut. Due to its unique qualities it is also known as miracle crop. It has 18–20 per cent edible oil, 45 per cent protein with high level of amino acid such as metheonine and cystine. Madhya Pradesh is one of the major soybean producing states of India. In the year 2011, total area allocated to soybean crop in Madhya Pradesh was 5.66 million hectare with production 6.28 million tonnes. The share of Madhya Pradesh to India's area and production of soybean was 56.04 and 51.43 per cent respectively. The study was conducted in Madhya Pradesh state of India in the year 2012–13. The overall objectives of present study was to find out the cost and return structure and resource use efficiency of soybean cultivation in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. The average cost of cultivation was observed 28562.53 on overall farms. Cost of production per quintal of soybean was 1547.54 on overall farms. The Input-output ratio was lowest in case of small and highest in case of medium farmers. It was observed 1.54 on overall farms.