A Faster Way Forward To Drastically Reduce Country's Import Burden On Edible Oils As Per PM's Call And Safeguard Consumer Health
The country's prevailing environment for oilseed cultivation is far from favourable, as is apparent from a host of production concerns, writes Ranga Rao Veerapaneni
Published : May 28, 2026 at 10:34 PM IST
|Updated : May 29, 2026 at 1:12 PM IST
The country's rapid slippage into the trap of chronic and burgeoning demand- supply gap after its first-ever yellow revolution in the mid-90s and its emergence as the world's largest importer of edible oils ( 2024-25=16MT) with unsustainable economic burden(2024-25=Rs 161000 crores) is indeed baffling. Given the latter's multiple oil-yielding sources, both annual and perennial, concurrent operation of two exclusive national missions (NMEO-OS&NMEO-OP), availability of a diverse range of agro-ecological and crop growing situations, as well as the vast potential the latter offers for stepping up overall output as well as domestic edible oil supplies.
What then really propelled the country into such a sorry situation, whether stagnation on the production & productivity front or wrong policies? Latest data available for oil year 2024-25 in respect of total oilseed output (=- 43MT), average productivity(=-1412 kg/ha) and domestic edible oil availability (=12 MT) vis a vis that of yellow revolution coinciding with mid 90s( 24MT;843kg/ha; 7.5 MT) is if any indication implicates the role of factors other than output per se for the country's continued chronic plight in edible oils.
As per the recommended pro-health based dietary allowances (RDA) of NIN/ICMR(2024), a person requires, on average, 12kg of visible oils /year. Interestingly, the country not only breached the above benchmark as early as 2020-21(=18.2 kg I.e 152% of RDA) but approached closely to the consumption level of developed countries by 2023-24 oil year (=23.5kg/ capita/year; Developed=25kg).
According to Niti Ayog’s report (2024), "Pathways and strategies for accelerating growth of edible oils towards atmanirbharata," the projected demand for edible oils based on the consumption level of developed countries works out to 38.9MT (2030) to 41.9 MT (2047). What is more, the above demand is reported to touch a staggering level of 45.5 MT(2030) to 66.8 MT(2047) once the country shifts its goal post to the USA's consumption(40kg plus/capita/year).
Does the country really need to join a rat race with the developed world and jeopardise the health of its consumers knowingly too well that excessive consumption of edible oils beyond permissible limits will hurt overall health and lead to multiple disease problems, such as fatty liver, high cholesterol, LDL, high triglycerides and pose risks of cardiovascular diseases, including stroke? Certainly not!
Moreover, the country's prevailing environment for oilseeds cultivation is far from favourable as is apparent from a host of production concerns viz. continued dependence of bulk of areas under oil crops on wayward monsoons and their cultivation under marginal conditions, decline in the acreage under several otherwise potential oil crops on account of their vulnerability to one or the other biotic/abiotic constraints which are beyond the reach of conventional breeding approaches and the failure of breeders to tap state of art non GE/ non GMO genome editing technologies because of continued opposition from country’s anti lobbies, widespread disenchantment of farmers with oil crops cultivation for want of remunerative price with guaranteed procurement as in case of wheat and rice, are if any indication, chances of achieving the above over ambitious targets are indeed remote, if not impossible.
As against the projections of Niti Ayog based on per capita usage of developed countries, edible oil demand estimates derived using NIN/ICMR’s benchmark remained not only well within the realisable limits for both 2030(=15.87MT) and 2047(=17.35MT) but exhibited only a gap of 3.5 - 5 MT between ultimate goal for 2030 and vikshitbharat and what has already been attained in 2024-25(=12 MT).
What is then the way forward towards sustainable self-reliance, which is pro-farmer and pro-consumer?
The country’s above worsening scenario on the edible oil front, as well as the urgent need for freeing the country from runaway import dependency and the associated unsustainable economic drain, call for a host of policy interventions in the domain of imports, farmer support, consumer health if the austerity drive of our Hon’ble PM is to be a reality. These interventions inter alia are:
- Immediate freezing of per capita consumption levels at least at 150-160% of the RDA of NIN/ICMR, which has already been achieved way back in 2020-21 (=18kg), if not 12 kg RDA
- Dispense with the current unrestricted open and liberalised import regime with zero or low basic duty to arrest indiscriminate flooding of the country with cheap imports, and instead shift to a restrictive and calibrated import policy, taking advantage of the option available under WTO to raise import duties from 45%(soybean) to 300%(other oils)
- As a part of a special incentive drive for promotion of oilseeds, declare a bonus over and above MSPs to oilseed growers for every quintal the latter offer to the procurement pool using savings accruing from the edible oil import cut.
- Offer remunerative MSPs based on C2 costs rather than A2+Fl backed up with guaranteed procurement to make oilseed cultivation not only more attractive in the face of rising costs, but also make self-reliance drive highly successful
- Launching a nationwide aggressive education drive through all regional multi-media for creating awareness on the adverse effects of excessive intake of edible oils on health, as well as safe consumption levels per family, including choice of oils vis-à-vis culinary usage
- Distribution of edible oil requirements of marginalised families through PDS to avert hardships, if any, on account of inflationary pressures to the latter
- As part of overall strategies for promotion of less water-intensive crops like oilseeds and pulses in drylands, discourage crops with high water requirements in all such areas through exclusion of 24*7 free power.
Ranga Rao Veerapaneni is Director (Retd.), erstwhile Integrated Directorate of Oilseeds Research (ICAR - DOR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of ETV Bharat.)
