India approved Bt cotton over two decades ago, but has never approved a single GM soybean seed. This article covers soybean cultivation in India, and that deliberate gap.
Must Know
- Soybean is a Kharif crop, sown with the monsoon and grown mainly for its oil and protein-rich meal.
- India ranks fifth in the world for soybean production, behind China, Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.
- Madhya Pradesh is called India’s “Soybean Capital,” producing around 55 lakh tonnes a year.
- Soybean meal, left over after oil extraction, is a major ingredient in animal and poultry feed.
- India has never approved GM soybean cultivation. Bt cotton remains its only approved genetically modified crop.
Good to Know
- India still meets about 56% of its edible oil demand through imports, despite growing soybean domestically.
- Import dependence has eased slightly. It fell from roughly 63% in 2015–16 to about 56% in 2023–24.
- India permits importing refined oil made from certain GM soybean varieties abroad, even while banning GM soybean cultivation at home.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- Allowing GM cotton but not GM soybean shows India’s biotech policy isn’t a blanket rule. It’s a crop-by-crop decision, weighing each crop’s specific economic and food-safety stakes differently.
- Fear of GM contamination spreading into India’s large non-GM soybean supply drives that caution. Soybean enters the food chain far more directly than cotton fibre does.
- Allowing GM soybean oil imports while banning GM cultivation draws a clear line. It separates consuming a processed product from growing the raw crop domestically.
- India ranks fifth globally in soybean output, yet oil imports remain heavy. Growing a crop and being self-sufficient in it are two very different achievements.
Leave a Reply