UPSC Articles
National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)
Part of: Prelims and GS- III – Food processing and related industries in India
Context: The National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) has been launched with the aim to augment the availability of edible oil in the country by harnessing area expansion, increasing crude palm oil production with the aim to reduce the import burden.
- Objective: To ensure self-sufficiency in edible oil production.
- Aim: To reduce import dependence from 60% to 45% by 2024-25, by increasing domestic edible oil production from 10.5 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes which is a 70% growth target.
- Farmers will get all needed facilities, from quality seeds to technology.
- Along with promoting the cultivation of oil palm, this mission will also expand the cultivation of our other traditional oilseed crops.
What is the need for such schemes?
- India is the largest consumer of vegetable oil in the world.
- India’s Palm oil imports are almost 60% of its total vegetable oil imports.
- Recently, India’s dependence on expensive imports has driven retail oil prices to new highs.
- In India, 94.1% of its palm oil is used in food products, especially for cooking. Thus, palm oil is extremely important to India’s edible oils economy.
- The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel.
- Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from oil crops in 2014.
- Top consumers: India, China, and the European Union (EU).
Note: No forest land is recommended for oil palm cultivation.
News Source: PIB
