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• Examine the major challenges faced by oilseeds farmers in India. Analyze the scope of increasing oilseed   production through research and development, technological advancements, and agronomic practices. (10 Marks, 150 words)

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19-06-2023

Q: Examine the major challenges faced by oilseeds farmers in India. Analyze the scope of increasing oilseed   production through research and development, technological advancements, and agronomic practices. (10 Marks, 150 words)

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Answer :

The production of Oilseeds has also increased to 36.1 million tonnes in 2020-21. But, even now, India imports majority of its edible oil consumption. As of 2019-20, India produced 7.9 million tonnes of oil and imported 13.4 million tonnes of oil. This makes India the largest importer and second largest consumer of edible oil in the world.

Reasons for Low Oil Seeds Production in India:

• More Focus on Wheat and Rice because of Green Revolution.
• Productivity and yield of oilseeds crop is low. Lack of access to improved variety of seeds (for e.g. GM varieties like DMH-11 are still not allowed to be grown commercially.
• Specialized inputs like specific fertilizers, pesticides etc. are not easily available.
• Poor Infrastructure: Inadequate irrigation facilities

Initiatives to reduce the import dependency and increasing the production of oilseeds:

• National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) aimed at increasing availability of edible oil in the country by harnessing area expansion and through price incentives.
• National Food Security Mission – Oil Seeds (NFSM-Oilseeds): Focused on production of foundation and certified seeds and distribution of certified seeds and seeds mini kits of latest high yielding varieties.
• Incentivization of oilseeds through MSP regime.
• Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA): 5 Major Palm Oil Importers from Asia form alliance (Sep 2022) to safeguard the economic and business interests of the palm-oil consuming countries.
• Other steps like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojna, MSP for Oil seeds, subsidies for inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, Training and extension programs for farmers etc. also help oil seed sector.

More Steps that could be taken:

Research and Development: To develop newer, high yielding varieties of oil seeds.

• Example: Researchers at International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) have developed a new variety of groundnut that is resistant to ground nut rosette virus.

Technological advancements:

• Advancements like precision agriculture, data analytics etc. can improve our understanding of crop requirements and regions where oilseeds will be more suitable.
• Improved techniques of irrigation like drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation can allow efficient use of water and makes it possible to grow oilseeds in areas with limited water resources.

Better Agronomic Practices:

• Techniques like inter-cropping, crop rotation etc. can help in increasing area under cultivation to produce oilseeds and improve the overall oilseed yields.
• These improvements together can also help in making agriculture climate resilient.

These methods, along with policy support like NMEO-OP and extension services can help farmers move towards increased oilseed production and can help India become Atmanirbhar vegetable oil.