National Edible Oil Mission – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)

National Edible Oil Mission – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)

Subject: Geography

Context:  Terming the government’s decision to launch a ₹11,000 crore National Edible Oil Mission – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) as a long-delayed one, the representatives from the edible oil sector have urged the Centre to speed up the process of its implementation to bring down India’s dependence on imported edible oils.

Concept:

Current situation

• India’s import bill of edible oils will top ₹1.20-lakh crore this year from ₹75,000 crore last year. According to SEA, the country has 3 lakh hectares of land under oil palm cultivation, producing around 2.80 lakh tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) a year.
• There is a potential to bring 1.9 million hectares of land. It had urged the government to target additional 5 lakh hectares in the next five years
• India currently depends on imports for nearly two thirds of edible oil used in the country. “Palm oil accounts for nearly 55 per cent of edible oil imported by India

National Edible Oil Mission – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)

• This is a giant step for oil palm development in the country and towards ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in edible oil
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a ₹11,000 crore National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) to make India self-reliant in edible oils
• The NMEO proposal would aim to reduce import dependence from 60% to 45% by 2024-25, by increasing domestic edible oil production from 10.5 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes, a 70% growth target.
• It projected a 55% growth in oilseed production, to 47.8 million tonnes
• The government will ensure that farmers get all needed facilities, from quality seeds to technology. Along with promoting the cultivation of oil palm, this mission will also expand the cultivation of our other traditional oilseed crops
• The NMEO-OP’s predecessor was the National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm, which was launched at the end of the UPA government’s tenure and later merged with the National Food Security Mission.
• Laying out its achievements, oilseed production had grown 35% from 27.5 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 37.3 million tonnes by 2020-21. Although oilseed acreage rose only 8.6% over that six year period, yields rose more than 20%

Oil Seed

• India is one of the major oilseeds grower and importer of edible oils. India’s vegetable oil economy is world’s fourth largest after USA, China & Brazil. The oilseed accounts for 13% of the Gross Cropped Area, 3% of the Gross National Product and 10% value of all agricultural commodities.
• The diverse agro-ecological conditions in the country are favourable for growing 9 annual oilseed crops, which include 7 edible oilseeds (groundnut, rapeseed & mustard, soybean, sunflower, sesame, safflower and niger) and two non-edible oilseeds (castor and linseed).
• Oilseeds cultivation is undertaken across the country in about 27 million hectares mainly on marginal lands, of which 72% is confined to rainfed farming.
• Main oil-seeds produced in India are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til), Soyabean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower.
• Groundnut is a kharif crop and accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country.
• Major states Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujrat, Maharastra, UP
• The policy impetus to oilseed production in India came for the first time in 1986 when the government launched Technology Mission on Oilseed. This was a golden period for oilseed production in India when productivity jumped from 670 kg per hectare in the eighties to 835 kg per hectare in the nineties.
• To achieve self-sufficiency in edible oils production the government has launched several policy initiatives since the mid-1980s. They mainly include supply of high yielding oilseed cultivars, extension services and subsidised inputs; offering of minimum support prices (MSP); fixation of price band; import controls via canalisation; and promotion of oil palm cultivation.
• The outcome of these initiatives, known as “Yellow Revolution”, were highly encouraging. Between 1985 and 1994 the growth rate of area, production and yield of oilseeds increased significantly. As a result, the proportion of imported edible oils in total edible oil availability declined from 26.72 per cent in 1985 to 2.17 per cent in 1993, thereby making India almost self-sufficient in edible oil production
• Oilseed crops are the second most important determinant of the agricultural economy, next only to cereals within the segment of field crops.