The Hindu Business Line : Lower acreage, frost hit rabi oilseeds output

Chennai, March 2 A drop in the coverage of rapeseed/mustard and sunflower crop and damage caused by frost have led to a lower oilseeds crop for the current rabi marketing season.

As per estimates arrived at the Oilseeds Conference held by the Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade at Agra in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, rabi oilseeds production is estimated at 86 lakh tonnes (lt) against 95.2 lt last year.

Including the rabi production, the total oilseeds production in the country during the 2007-08 oil year to October is projected at 254.9 lt against 229.7 lt a year ago.

However, carryover stocks of rapeseed/mustard as on March 1 are being estimated by the industry at 4-5 lt against 15 lt last year.

Lower output

The main drag on the rabi oilseed crop this year has been the lower production of rapeseed/mustard at 50.9 lt. Last year, it was 60.2 lt. This is mainly in view of a fall in the coverage of the crop to 59.86 lakh hectares (lh) from 66.63 lh last year.

The overall coverage of oilseeds itself declined to 86.69 lh from 96.10 lh a year ago.

“Rapeseed/mustard has lost some of its acreage to wheat this year. Besides, frost during the last few weeks has affected the crop,” said Mr B.V. Mehta, Executive Director, Solvent Extractors Association of India.

Shift in acreage

A similar shift in acreage was witnessed in sunflower, whose production is projected to be 9.3 lt against 10.6 lt. A minor fall in output is projected in safflower (kardi) and linseed crop.

Production of rabi groundnut is, however, seen higher.

The convention also revised upwards its projection for kharif castorseed crop to 9.1 lt from 8.5 lt made in October at the Nagpur convention. With this, kharif output has been raised to 168.9 lt from 168.2 lt.

Edible oil imports

Edible oil imports during the current season are estimated at 58 lt against 56 lt but the foreign exchange outgo on this is seen around Rs 18,000-19,000 crore. “Going by the current rend, edible oil imports could lead to nearly Rs 25,000 crore being spent in the next couple of years,” Mr Mehta said.

Though oilseed crop is projected higher this year, the fact is that during the last 6-7 years, its production has stagnated around 250-260 lt.

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