Edible oils deficiency

Farmers need stable policy environment for investment

The commerce ministry’s plea to the agriculture ministry to work out a plan for self-sufficiency in edible oils is based on sound economic reasoning and, therefore, merits urgent action. Purchases from abroad account for 65-70 per cent of the domestic requirements for cooking oil, making it the largest import item after crude oil and gold. Pricing policies and tariffs have turned oilseeds cultivation uneconomical vis-à-vis imports. They have also imperilled the viability of the domestic oilseeds-processing industry. A sizable part of the local vegetable oils-crushing capacity is lying idle or underutilised. Oil-meal exports, too, have been adversely hit.

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