By G Nagaraj and T Damodaram India is in a paradoxical situation with respect to edible and vegetable oils. It is one of the largest producers and also one of the largest importers. Naturally, it has become a major consumer of edible oils in the world. The country’s edible oils import bill was around Rs […]
By G Nagaraj and T Damodaram
India is in a paradoxical situation with respect to edible and vegetable oils. It is one of the largest producers and also one of the largest importers. Naturally, it has become a major consumer of edible oils in the world. The country’s edible oils import bill was around Rs 1.2 lakh crore in 2021-22. It imported 13 million tonnes of edible oils during the same period – 63% palm oil and the remaining soybean and sunflower. Worldwide consumption was over 205 million tonnes while India’s consumption was around 25 million tonnes. Domestic production was only around 11 million tonnes. The gap between demand and supply of edible oils is about 56% and is met through imports.
Sources of Supply
Indigenous supply of edible oils comes from cultivated oilseeds, groundnut, rapeseed, sesame, sunflower, safflower, soybean and niger. Among these, soybean (34%), groundnut (27%), rapeseed and mustard (27%) contribute to more than 88% of total oilseeds production and >;80% of vegetable oil with a major share of mustard (35%), soybean (23%) and groundnut (25%).
It also gets its edible oil supply from byproduct oils like rice bran, corn and cotton seed. Coconut and ghee also to some extent contribute to the edible oils kitty. According to estimates, the ghee market in India was valued at Rs 2,62,400 crore in 2021. The country also has a few sources of animal oils like tallow, lard and some fish oils in addition to ghee. Despite the availability of a wide range of edible oil sources, India is pitiably the largest importer of edible oils.
Need-based Approach
There is an urgent need to reduce imports, keeping in view the huge expenditure the government is incurring. The first question is whether India needs to import such large quantities, namely, about 140 lakh tonnes of edible oil? We should ponder over the need, especially, keeping the health of the nation in view. Nutritionists recommend that a healthy adult should consume around 30g per day or approximately 1kg of oil per month only. At this rate, for a population of 130 crore, India needs only 150 lakh tonnes of edible oil. Even if some industrial needs are taken into account, the total requirement should not be beyond 180 lakh tonnes. Unhesitatingly, India should immediately reduce the extra imports of 70 lakh tonnes.
A multi-pronged approach is essential to curtail the import of edible oil. Reduction in consumption along with increased production of oilseeds should be undertaken. The public should be awakened to reduce consumption. One or the other of the following advisories should be printed on the edible oil packets: ‘Consume one kg oil per adult per month and maintain Healthy Heart’, ‘Restrict Oil Consumption to One kg per Adult per Month and Maintain Healthy Heart’ or ‘An adult needs only one kg oil per month. Don’t consume more. Your heart will be at risk.’
There will always be an elite group which would project our lower consumption of 12-16 kg per annum as against 50-60 kg per annum consumption by developed countries. Food habits, climatic conditions like low temperatures, physique and physical activities etc, are different in western countries. Hence, their higher consumption of edible oils should not be considered an indicator of development.
Quality Criteria
An edible oil is chosen and utilised based on two criteria – cooking and storable, and nutritional quality. Cooking quality is mainly related to the ability of an oil to withstand cooking temperatures of around 250 degrees and also the ability to retain the quality over repeated (two or three fryings) and long (20 hrs or more) fat fryings. The quality of an oil should not deteriorate on storage beyond 6 months and preferably up to two years. Mostly saturated oils have this quality.
The other one is nutritional quality. Oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) like linoleic acid and linolenic acids conform to this nutritional quality. Such oils cannot be stored for longer periods and also cannot be repeatedly used for more than two fryings. No single oil is ideal with respect to both qualities. However, oils like rapeseed, groundnut and sesame are balanced with respect to both cooking and nutritional qualities. To overcome the quality deficiencies, the government has in recent years permitted blending of two or more oils and helped improve the quality.
From the point of view of nutritional quality, safflower is the best followed by niger, sunflower, and soybean oils. These are rich in linoleic acid with safflower and niger containing 60-70% and the others containing 20-40%. A recent addition to this category is rice bran, cottonseed and corn oils. All of us have an invisible supply of oils through the staple food, fruits and vegetables we consume daily. The availability through invisible sources works out to around 2 kg oil per month. Visible and invisible oils together more than satisfy the requirement of human body fat, namely, 20% total energy consumption.
Indigenous Production
It is imperative that the country reduce imports of large quantities of oils, especially palm, a saturated oil. Simultaneously, increased indigenous production of oilseeds should be a priority. Higher production of oilseeds will add another advantage to the nation, namely, the availability of protein-rich oilcakes. Sesame, groundnuts, sunflower kernels and niger are directly edible in their raw or roasted forms. Sesame seed/cake is the best possible source of protein containing all essential amino acids, followed by groundnut and other oilseeds.
Oilcakes from other oilseeds serve as animal feed and help improve our milk and meat production. Oil cakes unfit as animal feed serve as organic manure and help improve soil fertility and crop production. Rainfed and neglected oilseeds can be provided one or two critical irrigations during flowering and seed formation stages to increase their yields two or even three-fold.
Policymakers should concentrate on these aspects on a priority basis. Even industrialists should come forward to encourage farmers by offering remunerative prices. Oil technologists should devise ways and means of extracting more oil as well as producing edible grade cakes. Such efforts will go a long way in making oilseed cultivation a more remunerative crop along with making the country self-sufficient and building a healthy nation.
(G Nagaraj is former Principal Scientist & Head (CP) and T Damodaram is former Senior Documentation-cum-Information Officer, ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad)