"A dry spell of over two weeks has affected soya planting in the state," said a senior independent agriculture scientist and former adviser to the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) VN Shroff.

"Resowing needs to be done in about 25 to 30 per cent of the area sown till now," Shroff said. Sowing in about 60 per cent of SOPA's targeted area of 4.3 million hectares (10.75 million acres) in the state for 1999/2000 (November-October) has been completed, industry officials said.

The Madhya Pradesh accounts for around 80 per cent of country's soybean production.

"Poor rainfall has affected sowing to some extent, but it is not unusual. This will only extend the sowing season," one senior SOPA official said. The country gets the bulk of its rainfall in the four-month monsoon season which starts inJune.

Weather forecasters last week said the monsoon was progressing satisfactorily in northern states, but added there could be problems in western and central parts.

"The state's main soybean growing region has received 233.9 millimetre rains in this monsoon season so far against 240.7 mm at the same time a year ago," one spokesman of the Indian Meteorological Department said.

Soybean farmers begin sowing once the monsoon sets. Sowing is done for about a month until mid-July while harvesting is done in October.

SOPA expects 1999/2000 soybean output to hit a record seven million tonnes against an estimated 6.2 million tonnes this year.

The total cultivated area forecast is unchanged at 6.3 million hectares but a higher yield is seen boosting the crop.

Industry sources said SOPA's targets were ambitious and they expect production to fall short of the forecasts.