Soybean Malwa Plateau Farming Indore Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh is India's largest soybean producing state, accounting for approximately 44 percent of national production, with cultivation concentrated on the Malwa Plateau in Indore, Ujjain, Dewas, and Dhar districts on the black cotton soil (Vertisol) of the Deccan Plateau. Soybean was introduced to Madhya Pradesh in the 1970s as a kharif crop on fields previously under jowar and cotton, and the Malwa Plateau's deep moisture-retaining black soil proved exceptionally suited to the legume's requirement for well-aerated soil that remains moist but not waterlogged. Soybean is grown as a rabi-free kharif monocrop — planted in June-July on prepared fields, harvested September-October as a sole crop or in rotation with winter wheat. JS-335 is the state's benchmark variety for the Malwa Plateau, though JS-9305 with disease resistance has replaced it in many blocks. After harvest, soybean pods are threshed by combine and grain cleaned to 13 percent moisture. Indore is home to India's largest soybean processing industry — crushing mills that extract soy oil for edible use and soy meal for poultry and aquaculture feed export. A growing premium market for non-GM identity-preserved soybean for tofu and soy milk production in Japan and South Korea offers export premium. Madhya Pradesh Soybean Federation procures farmer produce and supplies to MPSTDC (Madhya Pradesh Soy Tech Development Corporation) mills.