A crop can be an orphan when segregated by geography from its primary production area. In unpublished research on forage soybean with Uludag University, Bursa Turkey, we describe why in the 1940s the United States (U.S.) shifted from forage soybeans to soybean primarily grown for seed. A century ago soybeans were primarily produced for forage; then, U.S. soybean produced for seed would have been an orphan crop. Now (2018) forage soybean seed production is considered an orphan crop with very limited seed production, but soybean produced for seed (grain) is not an orphan crop.

Furthermore, when Group II soybean were one of the earliest maturing soybean, they would have been considered an orphan crop in Canada and the northern U.S. Now, after breeding early maturity soybean (Group 0, Group 00, and Group 000), they are not considered an orphan crop with millions of acres produced for seed which would have been an impossibility even 40 years ago. (See https://www.agprofessional.com/article/art-and-science-soybean-maturity-ratings.)

Consequently, the same is true with all crops. Where a crop has extremely limited production, it can be considered an orphan crop. In another geography where the same crop is produced as a primary crop, it is not considered an orphan crop.

Yes, Soybean and groundnuts are still an orphan crops in many countries in Asia and Africa taking care of poor people in supplying energy and minerals. But the pity situations is that inspite of their valuable quality and energy they are still grown as orphan crop under low input situations under vagaries of weater conditions resulting in low productivity. China and USA has demonstrated their high productivity under high management conditions which is the need of the hours.

Since there is major world markets for soybean in North America, Asia, Europe and South Africa I do not think soybean can be considered an orphan crop. Both soybean and groundnuts can be considered to be under utilized compared to potential they have in many areas.

Thank you for your valuable explanations. In other words, there is no general consideration upon whether a crop is orphan or not. Thus, all depends on the country/region considered?

You are correct that "All depends on the country/region considered", but also the recognition it is given locally. The basic question to ask: "Is the crop primary, secondary, or tertiary in a specific area?" There could be many crops in those three categories in a specific country or region. If a crop is one of those, it is NOT an orphan crop. Orphan crops are isolated, unique in the area, have no existing market channels locally, and need significant development (i.e. breeding, agronomic testing, farmer testing, market acceptance, etc.) to even move into what would be a tertiary crop in a given country or region.

Thank you Prof Gary Wietgrefe

Please go through this useful PDF attachment.

Thank you dear Dr Singh