(MENAFN- Sudanow Magazine) KHARTOUM (Sudanow) ـــــ Soybeans is one of Sudan’s new and promising cash crops, whereby its cultivated area has grown from 3000 acres in 2013 to about 25000 acres in 2020, in both the country’s rain-fed and irrigated farming zones. The average production per acre of this crop is 1.1 - 1.5 tons per acre, growing closer to that of established countries in this field.
Experts maintain that soybeans is qualified to boost the national economy and beef up the producers income due to the high demand for this crop on the international market as a highly nutritional and industrial product.
The soybeans seeds contain about 20 percent cholesterol-free oil and 40 percent protein, on equal footing with meat, milk products and eggs.
Commercial products taken from soybeans oil include protein powders, vegetable protein, soybean vegetable oil, dry beans, animal fodder, gluten- free flour, soy milk, cheese, and soybeans ..etc..
It was also proved that soybeans products are useful in the reduction of the dangers
of certain diseases, including heart disease and some types of cancer.
The National Coordinator of Soybeans Research Dr Saifeldin Elrayah has said in a paper that the U.S, the World’s number one soybeans producer has imposed 25 percent new levies, a matter that renders the expansion of its production a necessity in other parts of the world. Parts of Africa South of the Sahara, including Sudan, are the most qualified for this expansion.
The Sudan scientists and experts are active in creating suitable conditions for the expansion of soybeans cultivation. The soybeans breeding program at the Agricultural Research Corporation in Wad Medani, central Sudan, has managed to accommodate soybeans to the different climate environments in both the rain-fed and irrigated sectors of Sudan.
Lead by Dr. Saifedin Elrayah, the program has so far adopted four non-genetically modified soybeans varieties. These are Sudan1, Sudan 2, Soya 1 and Soya 2.
An initial workshop was held in March for consolidating the cultivation and use of the soybeans crop in both of Sudan’s rain-fed and irrigated areas.
The workshop was organized by the Agricultural Research Corporation and the Korean –African initiative for food and agricultural cooperation and was attended by a number of Gezira Scheme officials, companies, university scientists, farming guides and farmers.
Director General of the Corporation Prof. Abdelmonem Taha has said the workshop was targeting all production partners in the value chain of the soybeans crop to lay down the required procedures
for getting the needed benefit from the crop of uplifting exports, the milk industry, the reduction of meat prices and increasing the farmers’ income. He has also indicated the merits of the crop and its adaptability to climate change.
Dr. Ameer Abdalla Abusin, the coordinator of the project for consolidating the cultivation and use of soybeans in the rain-fed and irrigated farming sectors, has considered the workshop the beginning of the consolidation of soybeans cultivation in the sates of Gezira, the Blue Nile and Gedarif across invention platforms to give training dozes to the producers that target higher productivity.
Prof. Yasir Ahmed, Director of the Soybeans Research Center, has reviewed the nutritional value of soybeans for man, its easy cultivation and its low production cost. He also accounted for the available opportunities to raise its productivity to competitive levels, maintaining that Sudan is qualified to provide the neighboring countries with their need of the crop.
Prof. Yasir has also indicated the challenges facing the crop, including the poor information about the crop, its meager use in the local industries. He said concerned bodies are endeavoring to remove all these challenges by the devising of encouraging farming policies to increase productivity, marketing and manufacturing, including its introduction in traditional foods, the introduction of labor alternatives by the promotion of mechanized farming at all the production levels.
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