A senior official of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on Tuesday called for stopping the industrial use of edible oils while pointing out that the paints industry consumes 23 per cent of the country’s edible oil.
Speaking with PTI, ICAR Assistant Director General (Oilseeds and Pulses) Dr Sanjeev Gupta on Tuesday said, “It is an important issue that 23 per cent of the country’s edible oil goes to factories manufacturing paints, varnishes and other products. It is necessary to stop this industrial use of edible oil.” Gupta, who was here to participate in the 52nd Annual Group Meeting of the All India Coordinated Research Project on soybean, said that India is currently importing about 60 per cent of its requirement of edible oil and spending Rs 1.17 lakh crore on it.
He said that the government has been taking steps to make the country self-reliant as far as edible oils are concerned by reducing imports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also asked ICAR to submit an action plan to increase oilseeds production, he said.
Gupta said that the country is also facing external challenges to meet the domestic requirement of edible oils.
Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the supply of sunflower oil from both countries has been disrupted, he said and added that India usually imports 85 per cent of its sunflower oil requirement from these countries.
“We are working on a plan to increase the production of sunflowers in the country,” Gupta said.
Asked about Indonesia’s ban on the export of palm oil last month, he said the government has prepared a roadmap to increase the area under palm trees by 10 times from 4 lakh hectares to 40 lakh hectares.
He said that the country had taken the initiative to become self-sufficient in oilseeds production through the ‘Yellow Revolution’ during the 1990s, but the per capita consumption of edible oil today in the country has gone up three times besides increase in population.
He said that at present, soybean is cultivated on 120 lakh hectares of land in the country and efforts are on to increase its per hectare yield through improved varieties.
Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of soybean in the country. However, stagnation in cultivated area and crop yields are increasing the concerns of the processing industry.
“Scientists should develop new varieties of soybean according to the climatic conditions especially for Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana as well as the northeastern states so that the cultivation of this oilseed crop can be expanded in the country,” Gupta stressed.
While replying to a question, the ICAR official said that a decision on allowing the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) soybean for human consumption in the country can be taken only through a democratic consensus. PTI HWP ADU MR MR
