Soya beans production in South America

Abstract or Introduction

Agriculture is considered to be the backbone of any given economy because virtually all manufacturing industries depend on it. One of the most important crops is soya beans; a species of legumes.it is characterized by high proteins and oil content. They are used for various purposes. Some of the applications of soya beans are (Riaz, 2006):
i. Fat-free soybean meal
More than 80% of the soybean is converted into soybean meal. Usually, soybean meal is considered to be a very cheap source of animal proteins. The meal is usually fed to swine, catfish, dogs and poultry.
ii. Soy vegetable oil
Soybeans contain 18% oil. During oil extraction, the beans are crushed and then solvent extracted with hexane. The by-products are then used as animal feeds
iii. Non-fermented food products
The most common non-fermented soya product is the soya milk which is extracted from tofu and tofu skin.
iv. Fermented products
The fermented food products produced from soya are fermented bean paste, soy sauce, tempeh and nato.
v. Soy beans are also used directly as food for people
vi. green vegetable soybeans is also a product of soybeans, in which immature green pods are boiled and served with salt
vii. soy floor
Soy floor is produced when the beans are ground into finer material. It is used for extruder cooking (Circle, 1972).
viii. Soy products, usually sold as powders and in liquid form, are also used as substitutes for breastfeeding.
ix. Soy can also be processed into various forms so as to be used as substitutes and extenders of dairy and meet products
x. Soya have a wide range of industrial applications such as inks, soaps, plastics, cosmetics, crayons and solvents
xi. Soya is used in the manufacture of bio-diesel
South America plays a very important role in the worldwide production of soya beans. Figure 1 below shows the worldwide production of soya in 2012, as per the statistics from FAO (FAO, 2013).