Cut Edible Oil Imports To Support Farmers, Says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday nudged private corporates to shun imports and buy oilseeds produced locally by providing offtake assurance to farmers, creating a win-win situation for both.

India, he said, is looking to jack up edible oil production by about 50 per cent in the next 3-4 years.
Modi said there is a considerable potential to expand palm oil cultivation under the 'National Mission on Edible Oil'.

Addressing a webinar on the positive impact of the Union Budget 2022 on the agriculture sector, the Prime Minister said investors should come forward to promote crop diversification.

Citing examples of oilseeds and pulses, Modi said, "There is a huge demand for these (pulses and oilseeds) in our country. The corporate world should come forward. There is an assured market for you (corporates). What is the need for import?"

The Prime Minister said the businesses could tell farmers how many quantities of pulses and oilseeds they would purchase. He noted that the agriculture insurance system already protects against crop losses.

The Prime Minister further stressed the need to study India's food requirements.

"We all need to work together to ensure that whatever (food) items we need, they get produced in India only," he said.

The government has set a target to increase domestic production of edible oil by 50 per cent in the next 3-4 years, Modi said and emphasised achieving the target within time. A programme to increase oil palm cultivation has already been launched, he added.

It is to be noted that India imports 60-65 per cent of its edible oil requirement.

According to industry data, the country's edible oil import bill shot up to Rs 1.17 lakh crore in 2020-21 oil year ending October 2021, compared to nearly Rs 72,000 crore in the previous year the rise in global prices.

Modi also urged Indian business houses to help in branding and promoting Indian millets (core cereals), which have high nutritional value. The year 2023 has been declared the 'International Year of Millets'.

He also talked about "a huge opportunity" for the corporate world in the field of nano-fertiliser, which will be a "game-changer" and food processing and ethanol manufacturing.

Modi also called on startups and private investors to create a pan-India network of soil testing labs. He said there is a need to create awareness among farmers about the importance of regular soil testing.

The Union Budget 2022-23, he said, focuses on making Indian agriculture modern and intelligent.

He noted that artificial intelligence (AI) would completely change agriculture and trade related to farming in the 21st century.

Modi said the government's objective is to increase farmers' income, reduce input costs and provide modern facilities to farmers. He also asked corporates to create a system where all agricultural equipment could be paid for rent.

The Prime Minister also asked agriculture universities and farm scientists to create awareness about natural and organic farming.

In the last seven years, Modi highlighted that his government has initiated many new systems and improved the old ones for the entire agriculture value chain, from seed to market.

He said the agriculture budget has increased manifold in just six years, and farm loans have increased by 2.5 times in seven years.

The Prime Minister said the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme had become a strong support for the country's small farmers.

"Under the scheme, almost Rs 1.75 lakh crore has been given to 11 crore farmers". The Centre provides Rs 6,000 annually to farmers in three equal instalments under this scheme.

During the difficult period of the pandemic, he noted that three crore farmers were given Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) as part of the particular drive. The Micro-irrigation network has also been strengthened to the great benefit of the small farmers, the Prime Minister said.

Due to these government's efforts, Modi said, farmers have produced record foodgrains and added that new records were created in MSP purchases.

Stating that the government is also encouraging organic farming, the Prime Minister said that the market for organic products had reached Rs 11,000 crore, with exports rising to more than Rs 7,000 crore from Rs 2,000 crore six years ago.

The Prime Minister asked for leveraging increasing awareness for an environmentally friendly lifestyle and resulting market for natural and organic products.

Referring to the budget, he said it focuses on making Indian agriculture "modern and smart" and elaborated on the seven ways the budget proposes to achieve this. These include promoting natural farming along the Ganges, ensuring modern technology in agriculture and horticulture, and new logistics arrangements for the transportation of agricultural products.

He added that the focus would be on better organisation of agri-waste management and increasing farmers' income through waste to energy solutions.

The budget also stresses that the Agri research and education syllabus will be updated as per the demands of modern times about skill development and human resource development.

Emphasising innovations in the irrigation field, the Prime Minister underlined the government's focus on 'per drop, more crop'. He said there are many possibilities for the corporate world in this too.

Modi noted that artificial intelligence (AI) would completely change the agriculture sector and trade related to agriculture in the 21st century.

The increasing use of drones in farming is part of this change.

"Drone technology will be available on a scale only when we promote agri-startups. In the last 3-4 years, more than 700 Agri startups have been created in the country", he added.

He also spoke about the need for better post-harvest management and boosting food processing.
The Prime Minister emphasised better management of agri-residue (parali).

"For this, some new measures have been taken in this budget, due to which carbon emission will be reduced, and farmers will also get income," he said.

The Prime Minister also touched upon the potential in ethanol where the government is moving ahead with a goal of 20 per cent blending. The blending has reached near 8 per cent compared to 1-2 per cent in 2014, he informed.

Talking about the role of the cooperative sector, he said India's cooperative sector is very vibrant and needs to be turned into a successful business enterprise."