Dynamics of Soybean Production in Buldhana District of Maharashtra, India

Soybean is a major oilseed crop in the state of Maharashtra and Buldhana is considered as the largest producer district of Soybean crop in Maharashtra. Buldhana district contributes to a major share in the total area under Soybean cultivation as well as total Soybean production in Maharashtra which is among the largest producers of Soybean in India. The research was aimed to study the dynamics of change in production of Soybean crop. The study was used to analyse the effect of area and yield over the production of Soybean. The research was carried out in Buldhana district of Maharashtra for it contributed to the total share of 9.66 per cent in area and 13.65 per cent in the production of Soybean. The study was carried out for the period of 15 years from 2007-08 to 2021-22. The study was based on the time series data collected from authorized government sources on area, production and Yield of Soybean in Buldhana district for the duration of 15 years. Buldhana district in 2022-23, had the area under Soybean cultivation of 445955 hectare and the production of 792435 tonnes. The research used additive decomposition model as the research tool to determine the impact of area and yield over the increase or decrease in Soybean production. In, the area effect and yield effect were calculated to determine the change in production of Soybean. The study also revealed the contribution of each effect over the change in production to determine the drivers behind the increase or decrease in production of Soybean in Buldhana district of Maharashtra. The area effect and yield effect were calculated for individual year. The present research reveals that, the yield effect contributed 84.88 percent to the change in production of Soybean in Buldhana district of Maharashtra while the remaining 15.12 percent was due to the area effect. Hence, the yield effect was the driving factor behind the increase or decrease in production of Soybean in Buldhana district of Maharashtra over the study period. It was concluded that, with the average annual growth of 29 per cent and the contribution of 84.88 percent, yield effect contributed a major share to the growth in production of 34.17 per cent in Buldhana district of Maharashtra. It was concluded that, though the yield of Soybean was observed to be increasing, it is not consistent and hence, it has become necessary to stabilize the yield of Soybean in Buldhana district as well as Maharashtra as a whole.