The Hindu Business Line : Call to increase area under veg oil crops

Advertisement

Hyderabad Jan. 30 Keeping in mind the growing import bill and increasing demand for vegetable oils, India should focus on increasing crop area and productivity in the next few years.

Delivering the special lecture on `Changing global vegetable oils scenario: Issues and challenges before India' at a national seminar here, Dr M.V. Rao, former Special Director-General of Indian Council for Agriculture Research, said the productivity levels of several vegetable oil crops in India was woefully low when compared with some countries.

There was a need to identify the reasons for the low yields to prepare a roadmap for growth of vegetable oils sector in the country, he added.

Huge Opportunities

Giving a bird's eye view of the vegetable oil scenario in the last few decades, he said the country should focus on supplementary sources of vegetable oil such as rice bran oil, cotton seed oil and coconut oil. While the potential for these oils was estimated to be at 40 lakh tonnes, the country produces just 18.9 lakh tonnes.

Oil palm too offered huge opportunities. Of the targeted eight lakh hectares of oil palm in 11 States, the country could achieve only 69,000 hectares so far. One of the strategies to increase area under vegetable oil crops was to focus on non-conventional crops in non-conventional areas. The country should also emphasise on adding value by reducing contaminations and overcoming toxicity barriers.

Farm Facilitators

Earlier, inaugurating the three-day seminar, Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Minister for Agriculture and Civil Supplies, said the country could utilise just 40 per cent of its oilseed crushing and processing industry. This was due to lack of enough supplies of raw material and large-scale import of oil at relatively cheaper prices.

He said the State Government was planning to set up a network of 50,000 farm facilitators, who would be trained in production, post-harvest technologies and WTO issues. "We will appoint 20,000 of them in three months with a honorarium of Rs 1,000 each," he said.

More Stories on : Oilseeds & Edible Oil | Cultivation | Events

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Deep westerly trough churning weather in North India

Primitive technique

Plantation panel enlarges insurance cover scheme

Spot rubber stays firm

Tea prices ease at Coimbatore sale

Milk dearer in AP coastal towns

Call to increase area under veg oil crops

Brazil likely to join global cashew alliance

MCX coffee futures post 1.38% gain

Mumbai to host multiple commodity meet

Nabard to hold credit seminar