OIL SEEDS PRODUCTION

OIL SEEDS PRODUCTION

Subject: Economy

Context : WTO member-countries are questioning India mainly regarding incentives to oilseed growers to boost output. A creative non-tariff based policy will boost oilseeds output. It will also counter the US, the EU’s objections in WTO.

Concept:

• Country needs 25 million tonnes of edible oils to meet its requirement at current consumption level of 19 kg per person per year.
• Out of the total requirement, 10.50 million tonnes are produced domestically from primary (Soybean, Rapeseed & Mustard, Groundnut, Sunflower, Safflower& Niger) and secondary sources (Oil palm, Coconut, Rice Bran, Cotton seeds & Tree Borne Oilseeds) and remaining 60%, is met through import. The oilseed production of the country has been growing impressively.
• Despite this, there exists a gap between the demand and supply of oilseeds, which has necessitated sizeable quantities of imports.

Govt. Intervention:

• To increase domestic availability and reduce import dependency, a National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO) is proposed for next five years (2020-21 to 2024-25).
• NMEO covering three Sub-Missions to increase production of oilseeds and edible oils from
• Primary Sources (Annual Crops, Plantation Crops and Edible TBOs)
• Secondary Sources (Rice bran oil and Cotton seed oil)
• Consumer Awareness for maintaining edible oil consumption constant at 19.00 kg per person per annum.
• The proposed mission will aim to increase production from 30.88 to 47.80 million tonnes of oilseeds which will produce 7.00 to 11.00 million tonnes of edible oils from Primary Sources by 2024-25.Similarly, edible oils from secondary sources will be doubled from 3.50 to 7.00 million tonnes.

National Food Security Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm

• During the 12th Five Year Plan, a new National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) was launched.
• Under NMOOP, Mini Mission – II (MM – II) was dedicated to oil palm area expansion and productivity increases.
• MM – II was implemented in 12 States – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh w.e.f. 01.04.2014.
• Through NMOOP, the Government aims to augment the availability of edible oils and reduce the import of edible oils by increasing the production and productivity of oilseeds and oil palm.
• It also aims to improve the area under plantation of Tree Borne Oilseeds (TBOs) – Olive, Mahua, Kokum, Wild Apricot, Neem, Jojoba, Karanja, Simaroba, Tung, Cheura and Jatropha.