"The sowing window is open till mid-July so we are not worried about the pace of sowing," said DN Pathak, executive director, SOPA. The total kharif acreage under soybean in 2021 kharif season was 120 lakh hectare, while this year, the sowing as on date has been done on 31.68 lakh hectares. In second largest producer Maharashtra, soybean sowing at 17.77 lakh hectares, stands at 40% of the total acreage of the previous year. Soybean is an important oilseed crop for India, which heavily depends on imported cooking oil for its domestic requirements. It is also an important crop for poultry and cattle feed.