The Indian government launched the National Mission on Edible Oil (Oilseeds) in October 2024, allocating an estimated ₹10,103 crore. This initiative aims to boost oilseed crop production to 69.7 million tonnes (mt) by 2030-31. Alongside the National Mission on Edible Oil - Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), the Centre targets increasing domestic edible oil production to 25.45 mt by 2030-31, intending to meet approximately 72 per cent of the projected domestic requirement of 35.35 mt.

The NMEO-OP, launched in August 2021, sought to raise crude palm oil production to 1.12 mt by 2025-26 by expanding cultivation to an additional 6.64 lakh hectares (lh). However, by FY 2024-25, only 1.89 lh of additional area had been covered. Furthermore, in the first season after the NMEO (Oilseeds) rollout, both mustard area and production declined during Rabi 2024-25.

India’s oil basket

As farmers prepare for Kharif oilseed sowing (soybean, groundnut, and sunflower), the government signalled its priorities by reducing the import duty on crude palm oil from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, effective May 31. The rationale given for this reduction was to widen the price gap between crude and refined oil, preventing the dominance of finished products. However, recent data indicates that the share of crude oils in India’s edible oil import basket has fallen to 7 per cent in May 2025 from 18 per cent in November 2024, while refined oils have increased to 93 per cent from 82 per cent in the same period.

India’s vegetable oil imports, including 15.96 mt of edible oil, totalled 16.23 mt in the 2023-24 oil year (November-October). This represents a 3 per cent decrease from 16.71 mt in 2022-23. In value terms, edible oil imports were $15.9 billion (₹1.32 lakh crore) in 2023-24, down from $16.65 billion (₹1.38 lakh crore) in 2022-23, according to data compiled by the Solvent Extractors Association of India.

With estimated edible oil consumption at 26 mt in 2023-24, and an annual growth rate of 3-4 per cent, demand is projected to reach 28-30 mt by 2029-30.

Call for dedicated leadership

BM Vyas, a respected expert and former managing director of Amul, recently emphasised the need for a competent and committed team to lead the oilseeds mission, if the government is serious about achieving self-sufficiency in edible oil. He stressed the importance of granting this team complete autonomy in decision-making and action, with active farmer involvement.

Currently, the agriculture minister heads the oilseeds mission. Critics argue that ministers often lack the time required for such a demanding role and are unlikely to step down to appoint a full-time leader. This contrasts with the 1986 Technology Mission on Oilseeds (TMO), which was led by Sam Pitroda, who dedicated his full time to the mission in close coordination with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). The TMO’s success was evident as oilseeds acreage surged to 25.3 million hectares (mh) in 1994-95 from around 15.6-19 mh between 1970-71 and 1985-86. This led to an increase in oilseed production to 21.34 mt from approximately 7-12.9 mt, and yields rose to 8.4 quintal/hectare from 4.5-6.84 quintal/hectare.

Until 1994, India was nearly 98 per cent self-sufficient in edible oil, with minimal imports. The State Trading Corporation (STC) was the sole canalising agency for imports when necessary, as the private sector was not permitted to import edible oil. In the 1994-95 crop year (July-June), India’s oilseeds production was 21.34 mt with an average yield of 843 kg per hectare.

In contrast, the oilseeds output in 2024-25 reached 42.61 mt (an 86 per cent jump) with an average yield of 1,408 kg per hectare (a 67% increase). The cumulative area under oilseeds has also increased by nearly 20 per cent to 30.27 million hectares over the last three decades.

Despite these gains, the production growth has not kept pace with the rising demand, leading to a widening gap. As expansion of agricultural land beyond a certain limit is unfeasible, imports have become an unavoidable necessity. Agricultural scientists often face criticism for not engaging directly with farmers, a role primarily falling under the extension divisions of central and state governments.

The groundnut paradox

According to official data, the share of groundnut in total oilseeds production has dropped to 28 per cent in 2024-25 from 38 per cent in 1994-95, share of sunflower to less than 0.5 per cent from nearly 6 per cent, share of sesamum to less than 2 per cent from nearly 3 per cent, safflower to 0.1 per cent from 2 per cent, linseed 0.27 per cent from 1.5 per cent and niger seed to 0.03 per cent from 0.9 per cent.

Only share of soyabean has gone up from 18 per cent to 36 per cent and that of mustard from 27 per cent to 29.6 per cent in last three decades.

The significance of the share of each oilseed has to be seen with its oil content as for instance due to 18-20 per cent oil content in soyabean (maximum 200 litres oil can be extracted from 1 tonne of soyabean) the actual benefit in augmenting edible oil availability in the country may not be much even if its area and production goes up, when compared with groundnut, which contains 48-50 per cent oil. So, priority has to be on original traditional oilseeds, which looks a far distant reality for now.

Next comes the yield gap between different regions in each oilseed, which has been talked about in last two decades without any tangible benefit, though there are a few exceptions. Experts said that the yield gap is not confined to oilseed and it is there in every other crop. There are several factors like soil condition, agro climatic zone, seed varieties, water availability, application of crop nutrients and pesticides that contribute to determine yield of a crop, they said.

Published on June 13, 2025