Edible oil or cooking oil plays the most important role in the Agri commodities market. Being a major economic booster for any nation. They are vital for all kitchens as well. Almost all varieties of them are extracted from seeds, while some oils are extracted from fruits or kernels. The process of extracting oil is done either with the help of machinery or through chemical extraction. This piece of write-up gives you more information about how their exporters in India are contributing towards making India Atmanirbhar in Edible Oil Production.
The production of oilseeds in India stood at 33.22 million tons, which is an all-time high. However, India had to import approximately 13.41 million tons of edible oils worth rupees 7,300 billion to fulfill its total domestic consumption, as the net availability of edible oils from all domestic sources stood at 10.65 million tons only. India exports edible oils to gulf countries from the ages or before Independence. Now, there is the need to make India remarkable in the production of Edible oils that would only be possible when the edible oil producers or manufacturers will work hand-in-hand with Digital E-commerce platforms as these platforms not only help them in creating new markets but also give them various tips and expert advice to grow their oilseed produces. India produced about 10.65 million tons of edible oils in 2019-2020, less than half of the quantity it consumed that year.
You would probably think that India is famous as a country suitable for growing multi-agri-commodities with large fields, still, why does India import edible oils for consumption and what should we do to grow the production of edible oils in India?
According to a report, during 2015-16 the per capita consumption in India stood at 19.5 kg of edible oil every year. Also, India consumed over 22 million metric tons of vegetable oils in the financial year 2021. The oils consumed were coconuts, cottonseeds, olives, palm, peanuts, soybeans, sesame, and sunflowers.
India has become Atmanirbhar in the production of wheat, rice, spices, and sugar. However, it is not a good sound for India that the country has invested too much wealth in the importation of edible oils. Even the Prime Minister of India, in one of his addresses, talked about why is it important that the investment for importing edible oils should rather go to farmers for their hard work.
Demand and Supply of Edible Oils in India:
In 2018-19, India cultivated 25 million hectares of land to produce 32 million tons of oilseeds including soybean, groundnut, rapeseed, and mustard that contributed to almost 90 % share in the area. This domestic production could only cater to a little over 30% of the total demand for edible oils. This is why importing edible oil is a must to meet the demand of the rest of the 70% population of India.
In the fiscal year of 2019 Indonesia exported palm oil, Brazil exported soya bean oil, and sunflower oil was exported to India by Argentina. There is constantly increasing demand for soya bean oil, and sunflower oil for importation. The high prices of edible oils are affecting both producers and consumers in India. However, the Indian government is measuring the technological tools for more production of edible oils that would not only encourage the farming skills of the farmers but will also encourage them to produce more oilseeds by utilizing more hectares of land.
The vision of the Central Government has invested INR11000 Crore for building the ecosystem to boost domestic production. Furthermore, other initiatives have also helped the nation to increase the area for seeding edible oilseeds to meet the domestic demand. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana has improved the critical relations of farmers with the government for increasing the production of edible oils.
There are several oils in the list which need to be produced by India to control and regulate the importation of edible oils. The list includes palm oil, coconut oil, peanut oil, soya bean oil, and sunflower oil.
Cottonseed is also a source of cooking oil and it is widely known for good results and approximately, 1.4 million tons of Cottonseed oil could be acquired by cotton seeds produced in India. According to a report, India has the potential to accumulate 1.9 million hectares of area under palm tree/oil production, which can secure around 7.6 million tons of additional edible oil for domestic use.
(Sources: Down to Earth).
If the government can complete the domestic need for these oils then it would be a huge accomplishment in the area of edible oil. When Indian would be able to fulfill its domestic requirement on its own, then only edible oil exporters would become able to export more quantity to make more profits and develop a better economy, and only then the nation would be called ‘Atmanirbhar’ in producing edible oils. Currently, India is the third-largest exporter of edible oils in the world.
Though there is a long battle to win to make India self-sufficient in fulfilling domestic needs of edible oils, the government can grow the graph by setting up the limitations over import-export affairs, and by encouraging and educating farmers for increasing the production of oilseeds.
Tradologie.com is a mainstream digital B2B E-Commerce platform that not only helps agri-commodity buyers and sellers to sell and procure rice, sugar, wheat, pulses, spices, and edible oils in bulk in a completely transparent environment but also gives various tips and advice that help in making Agri commodities trade easy and convenient.
