Soyabean prices have been ruling below the MSP of Rs 845 per quintal duringmost part of the season due to depressed oilmeal prices in the global marketand excessive imports of edible oils into the country.

Soyabean prices have been ruling below the MSP of Rs 845 for the yellowvariety and Rs 755 for the black variety of fair average qualityparticularly in Madhya Pradesh, which produces over 75 per cent of thecountry's total soyabean crop of estimated at around 52 lakh tonnes in1999-2000.

Nafed officials said procurement by the agency was likely to be around fourlakh tonnes by the end of the season as private traders and processors werestill `not making any significant purchase.'

Other states which produce soyabean are Rajasthan, Maharashtra and UttarPradesh.

Officials said the large- scale procurement by Nafed has posed storageproblems for the agency, which is not equipped with own storage facilitiesunlike the Food Corporation of India which

is the official procurement agency for foodgrains.

Nafed, was meanwhile, storing the procured beans in the warehousingfacilities of the state government and Central Warehousing Corporation(CWC), they added.

Though an inter-ministerial group headed by the joint secretary in theagriculture ministry has suggested steps to lift the sagging price ofsoyabean by relaxing procurement specifications, the centre is yet toofficially announce the measure.

Processors and traders kept off the market as most of the early arrivals ofseeds were of poor quality due to the untimely rains that lashed MadhyaPradesh during the time of harvest, Nafed officials said.

Industry sources said the low level of purchases by processors was also dueto an expected reduction in the import duty on oilseeds and crude oil, whichwas likely to pave way for easy and cheaper availability of raw materialsfor processors.

Public distribution and consumer affairs minister Shanta Kumar had statedthat the government would soon review the existing duty structure of 16.5per cent import duty on edible oils and 40 per cent on oilseeds.

The apex edible oil industry organisations have sought an upward revision ofimport duty on refined edible oils to 25 per cent and reduction in crude oiland oilseeds to five per cent to check the large-scale import of oils.

India is estimated to have imported over 43 lakh tonnes of edible oil during1998-99 (November-October). ``The growers can be assured of remunerativeprice only if government takes firm measures to check excessive oilimports,'' an industry official added.