Central Sulawesi Soybean Production Up In Last Four Years

Palu, Central Sulawesi, April 8 (Antara) - A substantial increase has been recorded by Central Sulawesi in its production of soybeans in the last four years. "We need to keep the growing trend this year and in the coming years," Suhyar, the secretary of the provincial agriculture service, said here on Monday. In 2008, soybean production of Central Sulawesi was recorded only at 2,927 tons, but in 2009, the production shot up to 4,722 tons. In 2010, the production fell to 3,555 tons but surged again to 6,218 tons in 2011 and to a new record at 8,166 tons in 2012, he said. He attributed the increase mainly to expansion of plantations that reached 900 hectares in 2012 from 4,320 hectares in 2011. There were 5,315 hectares of new plantations opened in a number of districts in the province, he said. He said, however, soybean plantations have not as wide as rice-fields or corn fields in the province despite growing demand for that commodity. Producers of tofu or soybean curd and cake in this provincial city have yet to rely on supply of soybeans from other regions or imports as local production still falls short of requirement, he said. Soybean including imported soybean is partly supplied from Surabaya to feed tofu and soybean cake factories in Palu . Farmers have not been sufficiently motivated to grow soybean in this region for lack of knowledge of market demand. Last year, soybean tofu and cake producers in the country stopped production in protest of soaring price of soybean on scarcity of supply including from imports. World`s manor producers of soybean such as the United States cut supply to the world market on shrinking production. Ismail, a local soybean tofu and cake producer said soybean available in the market is still dominated by imported products. "Soybean I order from Surabaya is all imported product. The price, therefore, is more expensive, he said. The price is more expensive but the quality is superior , he added.