Lowering edible oil duty may be a big setback for oilseeds mission
Following the government’s recent import duty cut on crude edible oils, fears are rising that oilseeds acreage may decline in the 2025 kharif season. While Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has defended the move, experts and farmer leaders argue the timing could hurt oilseed growers, as falling prices and lower returns make crops like paddy and maize more attractive.
There is a fear that the oilseeds acreage may fall during the current kharif season, potentially reducing the output after the government reduced the import duty on crude edible oils last week. . Even as the Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has defended the decision coming ahead of kharif sowing, many experts and farmer leaders have questioned the timing of the duty cut.
“In the first season after the National Edible Oil Mission was launched, the mustard acreage dropped, leading to a fall in production. Now in the current kharif season, the second, duty cut has been announced. As a result, prices are reported to have dropped already. What will be the motivation to ask farmers to stick to oilseeds when competing crops like paddy and maize are providing better returns,” a former top official of the Agriculture Ministry wondered.
According to the latest report of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), three years’ average gross returns over costs of production (A2+FL) between 2021-22 and 2023-24 was more than ₹30,000 per hectare (ha) in the case of paddy and maize. In contrast, the return was ₹19,749/ha in soyabean, ₹13,917/ha in sunflower, ₹13,576/ha in sesamum and ₹1,474/ha in nigerseed.
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Source : The Hindu Business line
