Soybean |
| Posted by ASCE (admin) on Thursday, 10th January, 2008 at 9:43 AM |
Introduction
Soybean is a legume that grows in tropical, subtropical and temperate climates. It is produced largely in the northern part of Nigeria, particular the middle belt. Soybean is an important source of high quality and inexpensive protein and oil. With an average protein content of 40% and oil content of 20%, soybean has the highest protein content of all food crops and is second only to groundnuts in terms o f oil content among food legumes.
The oil produced from soybean is highly digestible and contains no cholesterol. Soybean is the largest single source of edible oil and accounts for roughly 50% of the total seed oil production worldwide.
Variety
Nigeria has only one variety of soybeans which are yellow in colour
Command Markets For soybeans In Nigeria
Soybeans are traded almost in all markets in the Northern part of the country. However, they can be found in large quantities at Dawanau Market in Kano, Gusau Market, Talata Mafara in Zamfara, Jibia Market in Katsina, Bodija Market in Ibadan and Mile 12 Market in Lagos.
Production
From IITA's report over 160 million tones of soybean were produced worldwide in 2000. The leading producer was the USA which accounted for 49%, Latin America and the Caribbean produced 34%, Asia less than 1%. In 2000 (also from this same report), a total of 73 million hectares was planted with soybeans throughout the world. More than 29 million hectares of this was in the USA, while about 817,000 hectares were in the sub-Saharan Africa. The average yield in 2000 was 2,210 kg per hectare ranging from about 3,520 kg per hectare in Western Europe and 2,650kg per hectare in the USA, to 990 kg per hectare in Africa. Nigeria during the same period produced 339,000 MT. Benue State is the largest producer of soybeans in Nigeria with an output of about 169,000 Mt representing 48% of the total National output of 352,000 MT in 2004.
Uses
Soybeans is used for production of milk, edible oil and animal feeds
Soybeans are good for human consumption because of its high protein content
It is also useful in the treatment of malnourished children particularly in the sub-Saharan, Asia and Latin American countries.
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