Soy
Parameters Considered:
Introduction: Among the legumes, the soybean, also classed as an oilseed, is pre-eminent for its high (38-45%) protein These oilseeds, when compared to other oil crops under research have a higher yield and offer several other advantages. The soyabean seed contains about 19% of oil. The process involved in extracting oil from soyabean seed is by cracking the seeds and adjusting its moisture content;. They are then subjected to solvent extraction using hexane. Refining of the oil is then done and is then used with varied blends.
Environmental Conditions:
a.Soil: Soy has a great ability to get accustomed to any type of soil, if properly handled. Successful Soy production is greatly dependent on proper soil preparation. The soy seed beds must be planted in such a way that they are firm and there must be enough soil to cover the seeds completely as well as produce sufficient moisture to sprout them completely. Modern crop cultivars generally reach a height of around 1 m (3 ft), and take 80–120 days from sowing to harvesting.
b.Rainfall: Soy can grow in regions experiencing a moderate climate, i.e. in regions which are neither too hot nor too cold. Again, they require adequate rainfall; once it is well started it can even survive droughts or excessive moisture without serious reduction of the growth.
c.Temperature: Cultivation is successful in climates with hot summers, with optimum growing conditions in mean temperatures of 20 °C to 30 °C (68°F to 86°F); temperatures of below 20 °C and over 40 °C (68 °F, 104 °F) retard growth significantly.
Yield: A good crop yield for soy bean is 60 bushels / acre.
Prominent global producers: The main producers of soy are the United States, Brazil, Argentina, China, Japan, Paraguay, Korea, Indonesia and India.
Process:
Soybean oil production: The production of commercial soybean oil is complicated. The mechanical production of soybean oil with hydraulic presses is not much used because it’s expensive and gives lower yields. Soybean oil is normally produced by extraction with solvents. The production consists of following steps:
a.Cleaning of soybeans: The soybeans are first cleaned, dried and dehulled prior to oil extraction. The soybean hulls needs to be removed because they absorb oil and give a lower yield. This de-hulling is done by cracking the soybeans and a mechanical separation of the hulls and cracked soybeans.
b.Extraction of soybean oil: First the soybeans are cut in flakes which are put in a percolation extractors and immerged with a solvent, normally hexane. Counterflow is used as extraction system because it gives the highest yield. After removing the hexane, the extracted flake only contain about 1% of soybean oil and is used as livestock meal or to produce food products such as soy protein.
c.Purification of soybean oil: The crude soybean oil still contains many oil-insoluble and oil-soluble impurities that needs to be removed..
Cultivation:
Cultivation is successful in climates with hot summers, with optimum growing conditions in mean temperatures of 20 to 30 °C (68 to 86 °F); temperatures of below 20 °C and over 40 °C (68 °F, 104 °F) retard growth significantly. Soybeans, like most legumes, perform nitrogen fixation by establishing a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum (syn. Rhizobium japonicum; Jordan 1982). However, for best results an inoculum of the correct strain of bacteria should be mixed with the soybean (or any legume) seed before planting.
Harvesting
a.Combine: The combine cuts the matured beans, and elevates them to the cylinder where they are threshed–out.
b.Binder: The method of harvesting most extensively used is cutting with a bidder, shocking and threshing.
c.Mower: If for any reason a binder cannot be used... a mower with a side delivery attachment or a self–rake reaper will give quite satisfactory results.
d.Threshing
It is necessary to make several adjustments in the ordinary thresher to get the best results with soy beans.
Finally, the beans move from these industries or storage buildings to wholesalers or retailers for final marketing. The type of transport used to move soybeans depends on the amount of beans and distance traveled. It is especially important to transport the beans from the field to storage centers as soon as possible to avoid deterioration.
Possible end-products- The main products derived from soybeans are soy meal (the world’s main oil meal for animal feed) and soy oil (the world’s most consumed vegetable oil). Only a small part of the global harvest is processed as whole bean for human consumption, mostly in Asia.
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Advantages of Soybean:
- Soybean biodiesel gives more bang for the buck than ethanol made from corn does.
- Adequate cold flow characteristics.
- Easier to meet ASTM spec.
Economics
In the soybean division averaged over the five years, seed makes up 13% of the total input costs, chemical inputs are 16%, fertilizer inputs are 10% and land costs make up 34% (Table 1). Average costs per acre for soybean ranged from $172 to $198 and average cost per bushel ranged from $3.30 to $4.19. Average returns per acre ranged from $123 to $194. Better efficiency (low cost per bushel) occurs with higher yields.
