India is becoming ‘AatmaNirbhar’ in Edible Oil Industry | Explainer Video

*THUMBNAIL*- Edible oil: From importer to exporter
Here is India’s Plan

*SCRIPT*

On 24th May 2021, centre holded a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss ways and means to ensure availability of edible oil at a reasonable price in India. In the past few months there has been a hike in the price of edible oil in India. Change in international prices of edible oil makes an impact on domestic price of edible oil. Here’s why…

Latest data of 2020 says that India needs 25 million tonnes of edible oils to meet its requirement at current consumption level of 19 kg per person per year. Out of those 25 million tonnes, around 10.50 million tonnes is being produced in India. As of now in order to meet the gap between the demand and supply, India imports around 60% of edible oil.

Central government together with state governments is already increasing the domestic production of crops which can be used to make edible oils. In this video we will talk about government schemes and initiatives that promote production of edible oil in India.

*Government’s steps to improve edible oil production*

With the aim of improving production of Oilseeds and Oilpalm, Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare Department is implementing many Crop Development Programmes. National Mission on Edible Oils is one of them

*National Mission on Edible Oils*

NMEO aims to increase domestic availability. It has been proposed for next five years (2020-21 to 2024-25). The action point about which we will talk now is being initiated for increasing production and productivity of oilseeds. NMEO is aiming to-

-Increasing seed replacement rate and varietal replacement rate
-Promotion of oilseed in rice fallow/ potato areas
-Promotion of oilseeds through intercropping
-Extending oilseed cultivation in nontraditional area
-Targeting 100 low productivity districts
-Crop diversification in different reasons
-Promotion of community based oil extraction unit
-Value addition and promotion of export
-Promotion of rice bran and cotton seed oil
-Consumer awareness for judicious consumption of oils for good health

*National Food Security Mission*

This mission aims to increase the production of pulses, rice and wheat through-
I. Restoring soil fertility
Ii. Area expansion
Iii. Productivity enhancement
Iv. Enhancing farm level economy
V. Creating employment opportunities

It is being implemented in 28 states and UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. This mission also provides assistance to farmers in order to organise cluster demonstrations. From last year, primary processing units have been added as per local requirements. This is boosting morale and also helping in increasing income of farmers.

*Targeting Rice Fallow Area*

Another crop production programme of the central government is Targeting Rice Fallow Area. It educates farmers about utilisation of land left fallow after Kharif paddy. It is being implemented at a large scale in Maharashtra.

*NFSM-Oilseeds & Oilplam*

Dept. of agriculture and farmer welfare allocated an amount of Rs. 153.36 crore for NFSM that is National Foodgrain Security Mission-Foodgrain components and Rs. 39.38 crore for NFSM-Oilseeds & Oilplam as Central share for the State of Maharashtra during 2020-21.

*Subsidy from State Disaster Response Fund*

70% area of India being in rain-fed conditions is one of the major challenges in oil seed production. If the crop is damaged because of natural or man – made calamities like earthquake, fire, flood,cloudburst, pest attack, the concerned state governments are bound to provide relief to the affected farmers in the form of input subsidy from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) placed at their disposal as per the Government of India’s items and norms.

There is no doubt that India is continuously working on increasing the domestic production of oilseeds which could not only reduce the import dependence but will increase the export too. That’s all for today. Thanks for joining