India: The Rising Elephant

have nearly doubled over the past year, or so says this article in Mint. It was an interesting read, since a friend just wrote in to me about some research on the soybean market in India. Why is this an area of research? Soybean production and export has apparently grown at a rate of 8% annually since 1991, definitely not a trivial value. This growth has also been facilitated largely by a combination of technological improvements - in irrigation, in soybean varieties and in processing technologies - as well as policy - an aggressive support scheme launched in 1971. Better interaction between farmers and food processing industries have also helped this rise.
This is an interesting and relevant area of research because it is an example of how technological innovation supplemented by policy measures can help aggressively promote agricultural development and efficiency. There are lessons to be learnt for other agricultural products. It is also an important area of research given the declining production of pulses (substitute protein) and the nutritional and economic impact of soy versus protein in the average Indian's diet.