A study was conducted to visualize the impact of soybean cultivation in the "Soya State", Madhya Pradesh. The data were collected using well-designed interview schedule containing relevant questions on how soybean has affected farmers lifestyle as well as overall farming scenario? Majority of the respondents perceived soybean cultivation as a major driving force for their socio-economic development. A steady increase in the farmers' inclination to grow soybean was observed during the last five decades, while, decreasing their area in traditionally grown crops like sorghum, pigeon pea, groundnut, cotton and black gram. During soybean introduction many changes in the overall farming scenario of Madhya Pradesh have occurred. The change was recorded in the land holding pattern of farmers which revealed that small and marginal farmers have further reduced their land holdings while larger farmers have not only managed their holdings but also added newer areas to their total farm size. The cost of cultivation as well as rates fetched by the soybean showed an upward trend with passage of time during these five decades. An inverse relationship between the labour availability and wages was also observed. The gathered opinion from farmers brought out that fertilizer consumption and insect-load appeared to have increased with time. It seems that in spite the irrigation facilities have increased during these 50 years, particularly that of canal, tube wells and ponds, soybean by and large, remained to be a rainfed crop. However, the farmers have shifted from bullock drawn implements to tractor drawn implements. This led to limiting number of animals with farmers, thereby progressive reduction in the use of manures. Subsequent to the introduction of soybean, the socio-economic status of the farmers has improved.
