Rising Trend for Ukraine's Soybeans

KIEV - Sep 25/07 - PROAGRO -- The attitude towards soybeans and interest in their growing are not stable in Ukraine. While soybean crops occupied more than 190,000 hectares in our country as far back as the 1930s, later the Ukrainian agriculture was switched to corn, cereals and other crops, and soybean growing was not given due attention. Significant attention to the soybean production revival in the country started appearing just three or four years ago.

Ukraine's soybean output has increased 59 times over the past decade (1996 – 2006). According to the State Statistics Committee, a total of 889,000 MT of soybeans was harvested at all types farms of Ukraine in 2006, i.e. 45.1% more than gathered in 2005 and 14 times more than in 2000. At the same time, the soybean yield level decreased from 14.5 centner/hectares in 2005 to 12.5 centner/hectares last year. The 2007 soybean crop is expected at last year's level: 890,000 MT.

The booming soybean expansion is caused by strong demand for this crop as a source of high quality protein in terms of amino acid composition, which is used for both feed and food purposes. Also, soybeans are a source of valuable vegoil used both nutritionally and industrially.

The key reasons for rising soybean production in our country include its promptly developing poultry sector, which is the main domestic consumer of soybeans, as well as good export outlooks, which are caused, apart from other factors, by a boom in the European and global biofuel production.

At present, a rising interest is seen in soybean as a third-millennium crop due to its high ecological properties. Soybeans are more interesting as a component of the grain farmer crop rotation compared to other crops because it ensures better protection of the environment owing to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Plants obtain additional nitrogen nutrition at the expense of fixed atmospheric nitrogen along with mineral nitrogen taken up from the soil. As a result, there is no need to apply synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to soy, which, as a rule, are able to pollute ground water. Moreover, when farmers seed grain single-crops after soy, they obtain higher yields and lower rates of nitrogen fertilizer application are required. In fact, there is no need to use pesticides for growing soybeans.

The soybean growing prospects in Ukraine look quite optimistic now. Our country has considerable areas with favorable agroclimatic conditions for growing soybeans and obtaining stable harvests. When grown as a forecrop, soy enhances soil fertility and improves grain harvests. The soybean growing margin can reach 100 - 120%. In Ukraine, the soybean yield averages at most 14.0 centner/hectares, and in 2006 it was 12.5 centner/hectares. However, owing to high market prices, even such yields provide a soybean growing margin over 70%.

Soybean is an economically sound crop, which is cultivated without applying nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides, does not entail costs for environmental damage reparation and contributes to nature preservation, and enjoys steady global demand. Since the global population number is rising and increasingly appreciable damage is caused to the environment by human economic activities related to food production, optimizing the food resources production and use is vital for survival of the mankind. Soybean is an indispensable and most promising crop in this respect.

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