About 70% of India's vegetable oil demand will depend on imports by 2020
By 2020, about 70% of India's vegetable oil demand will rely on imports
(Agricultural Wealth Network) According to the director of India's National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development Board, if the government does not take measures to increase domestic oilseed yields and re-impose import tariffs on palm oil, then by 2020, about 70% of India's vegetable oil demand will be met through imports.
India's vegetable oil demand is about 13 million to 14 million tons, and it is still increasing year by year, because the middle class is growing faster, and cheap palm oil supplies are continuously pouring into the Indian market from Malaysia and Indonesia.
Since last year, the government has no longer imposed import tariffs on palm oil.
This year India has become the world's largest vegetable oil importer, because dry weather damaged oilseed crops. At present, about 40 to 50% of India's vegetable oil demand is met through imports. Most of the imported edible oil is palm oil.
He said that India's oilseed varieties are quite good, but large quantities of cheap vegetable oil are imported into the domestic market, and this year's weak monsoon rains have left farmers very frustrated. Only 20% of the country's peanut crop has irrigation water, while soybean and rapeseed crops almost entirely depend on rainwater irrigation.
According to the India Meteorological Department, affected by a low-pressure system in the Arabian Sea region, heavy rain may occur on the night of November 11 or tomorrow night in areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra in western India.
Western Gujarat and Maharashtra are India's main cotton, oilseed and sugarcane producing areas.
The Indian government is working to improve irrigation facilities, but the cost is too high, and it also takes time. The government must first re-impose import tariffs, which may help raise some funds.
India's oilseed planting area has doubled from the level of ten years ago, reaching 27 million hectares, because the government raised the minimum purchase price for vegetable oil. However, oilseed yields are low, at only about 1 ton per hectare.
India grows nine kinds of oilseeds every year, including soybeans, rapeseed and peanuts. Annual domestic vegetable oil production is about 8.2 million to 8.5 million tons.
One way to address India's vegetable oil supply-demand gap is to plant more oilseed crops such as oil palm on wasteland.
A panel of experts in India has identified about 800,000 hectares of cultivated land suitable for planting oil palm, but oil palm planting projects have progressed slowly, and the Indian government has not yet declared the oil palm tree to be a plantation crop like sugarcane, coffee and rubber, thus making it difficult for companies to plant oil palm on their own cultivated land.
India's vegetable oil demand is about 13 million to 14 million tons, and it is still increasing year by year, because the middle class is growing faster, and cheap palm oil supplies are continuously pouring into the Indian market from Malaysia and Indonesia.
Since last year, the government has no longer imposed import tariffs on palm oil.
This year India has become the world's largest vegetable oil importer, because dry weather damaged oilseed crops. At present, about 40 to 50% of India's vegetable oil demand is met through imports. Most of the imported edible oil is palm oil.
He said that India's oilseed varieties are quite good, but large quantities of cheap vegetable oil are imported into the domestic market, and this year's weak monsoon rains have left farmers very frustrated. Only 20% of the country's peanut crop has irrigation water, while soybean and rapeseed crops almost entirely depend on rainwater irrigation.
According to the India Meteorological Department, affected by a low-pressure system in the Arabian Sea region, heavy rain may occur on the night of November 11 or tomorrow night in areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra in western India.
Western Gujarat and Maharashtra are India's main cotton, oilseed and sugarcane producing areas.
The Indian government is working to improve irrigation facilities, but the cost is too high, and it also takes time. The government must first re-impose import tariffs, which may help raise some funds.
India's oilseed planting area has doubled from the level of ten years ago, reaching 27 million hectares, because the government raised the minimum purchase price for vegetable oil. However, oilseed yields are low, at only about 1 ton per hectare.
India grows nine kinds of oilseeds every year, including soybeans, rapeseed and peanuts. Annual domestic vegetable oil production is about 8.2 million to 8.5 million tons.
One way to address India's vegetable oil supply-demand gap is to plant more oilseed crops such as oil palm on wasteland.
A panel of experts in India has identified about 800,000 hectares of cultivated land suitable for planting oil palm, but oil palm planting projects have progressed slowly, and the Indian government has not yet declared the oil palm tree to be a plantation crop like sugarcane, coffee and rubber, thus making it difficult for companies to plant oil palm on their own cultivated land.