India plans to grow soybeans in large areas in 2019, as higher oilseed prices are prompting some farmers to abandon the competition for competitive products such as cotton and legumes.

Increasing the production of major summer oilseeds in India could help the world's largest importer of vegetable oil reduce costly purchases in Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia and Malaysia. It could also help increase Indian soybean meal exports as animal feed to Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam and Iran.

“At current prices, soy is more profitable than other crops. We will see a shift from cotton to soybeans, ”said Davish Jane, chairman of the Soybean Processing Association in India (SOPA).

Since the start of the 2018 harvest on October 1, after India raised the import duty on soybean oil, palm oil and other vegetable oils, local soybean prices rose by almost 14 percent to 3,716 rupees ($ 53.31) per 100 kg.

Soybean prices are also supported by Iran’s growing appetite for Indian soybean meal imports, a Mumbai-based global trading company dealer said.

According to data collected by SOPA, in 2018 soybean was cultivated on 10.8 million hectares, which is 6.7 percent more than a year earlier. At the same time, the chairman of the Association of Soybean Processors in India did not give an accurate estimate of how much land will be under soybean in 2019.