India remains import-dependent for edible oils despite significant efforts during the past four decades, with imports increasing manifold particularly in the last two decades.
Further, to contain food inflation, the government has slashed import duty on edible oils. Consequently, India’s edible oils imports reached a record 165 lakh tonnes during 2022-23 oil marketing year (November 2022 to October 2023), per Ministry of Commerce data. In June 2024, 15 lakh tonnes of edible oil were imported, an 18 per cent jump year-on-year.
To curtail the growing dependence on imports, there is a need to boost domestic production of oilseeds and rationalise import policy of edible oils.
Domestic production of edible oils on average stood at about 110-120 lakh tonnes with major oilseeds contributing about 70 per cent of it and secondary sources like cotton seed, rice brawn, palm and coconut contributing the rest, per the data from the Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2022.
Oilseeds composition
Over roughly a five year period (according to the above document), groundnut oil roughly accounted for about 30 per cent followed by mustard and soyabean oils contributing each about 20 per cent, whereas sunflower oil accounted for less than 1 per cent of domestic production. Among secondary sources, there is a significant growth in output and consumption of cotton seed and rice bran oils in last two decades.
Of the total edible oil imports, which accounts for more than 50 per cent of domestic consumption, more than 60 per cent is palm oil, 23 per cent is soyabean oil and 16 per cent is sunflower oil. However, a significant amount of domestic edible oil consumption, particularly palm oil, may be used for commercial purposes such as fast food restaurants, processed foods and other industrial uses.
Household consumption pattern of edible oils indicated a strong preference for traditional oilseed sources like mustard, sunflower, soyabean and groundnut oil.
A survey conducted by ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseed Research showed that mustard oil was the most consumed oil followed by sunflower oil in the North and East zones. While the West zone preferred soyabean, mustard and sunflower oils, the South zone consumed sunflower, groundnut oils.
The per capita availability of edible oil was 8.3 kg, while the National Institute of Nutrition recommends 20-50 grams of edible oil per day per person, which works out to 12.7 kg per annum per person.
To attain self-sufficiency, particularly from the household consumption and nutritional security point of view, it is essential to increase domestic oilseeds production.
Oilseeds output scenario
Sunflower production dipped drastically during the past 20 years from about 12-15 lakh tonnes produced during the mid-2000s to a meagre 1.7 lakh tonnes in 2023-24, according tothe Third Advance Estimates released in June 2024.
Consequently, domestic consumption of sunflower is entirely met through imports. Three major oilseeds, including mustard with 132 lakh tonnes, soyabean with 131 lakh tonnes and groundnut with 102 lakh tonnes, contributed for more than 90 per cent of oilseeds produced in the country.
During the last four decades, the acreage under mustard doubled from about 40 lakh hectares to about 90 lakh hectares, while its yields increased from about 500 kg/hectare to 1400-1500 kg/hectare. But the acreage under groundnut declined to about 47 lakh hectares from about 70-75 lakh hectares, while the yields rose to over 2000 kg/hectare from 800 kg/hectare in the corresponding period. However, the rise in production of soyabean has been entirely due to expansion in its acreage from about 5 lakh hectares in the early 1980s to about 132 lakh hectares in 2023-24, while its yields stagnated at around 1000 kg/hectare.
Further, acreage under sunflower declined steeply from about 22 lakh hectares in the mid-2000s to about 1.5 lakh hectares in 2023-24.
Thus, there is an urgent need to promote domestic oilseed production through extension services and optimal irrigation practices.
Cultivation of oilseeds is environmentally friendly as most of the oilseeds are rainfed crops with limited irrigation requirement, short duration, and some are legumes with a capability to enhance soil fertility.
Amarender Reddy is Joint Director, ICAR-National Institute of Biotic Stress Management (ICAR-NIBSM), Raipur; Tulsi Lingareddy is Senior Economist, Sustainable Finance and Agriculture, Mumbai. Views expressed are personal