Acreage under soybean across the country was at 9.9 million ha as of Thursday, down 10.4% from the year-ago period. Sowing under soybean fell this year following a decline in acreage in Madhya Pradesh, the largest soybean-producing state, due to poor rains in the last fortnight. In Madhya Pradesh, acreage of the crop was at 4.71 million ha, down from 5.36 million ha in the previous year. The area under soybean in the state is lower so far because farmers chose to sow other remunerative crops such as cotton, urad, and moong, as soybean fetched poor returns in 2016-17.