Guidelines for Sustainable Soybean Production in Egypt

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max) remains one of the most vital oilseed and protein crops globally, serving as a source of food, feed, forage, and various industrial applications. It is particularly valued for its high-quality protein content (38–42%) with a balanced amino acid profile, and it yields more usable protein per hectare than other staple crops like rice, wheat, or maize. Additionally, soybeans provide an unsaturated, cholesterol-free oil (18–22%), enriched with omega-3 fatty acids, making it a nutritionally valuable crop. However, despite these advantages, over 80% of global soybean production is processed into animal feed and oil rather than consumed directly as food. In Egypt, soybean cultivation has steadily declined over the past four decades, from 62,000 hectares in 1983 to just 14,000 hectares in 2021. Soybean productivity in Egypt is slightly low (3 t ha-1), where the highest productivity is 4.15 t ha-1 (Turkey), followed by 3.45 t ha-1 in USA and Brazil. Meanwhile, domestic demand for soybean products has surged, reaching around 5 million tons in 2022, largely driven by the growth in poultry and livestock production and the need to address an increasing shortfall in edible oils and protein. This reduction in cultivated area has been attributed to the influence of low-cost imported soybeans, which pressured local prices and made other summer crops more economically attractive for farmers.