India’s edible oil imports increased, what effect does this have on farmers?
India’s edible oil imports have increased to a whopping 14.2 lakh tonnes in 2021-22, the government said on Friday. This import was 43.65 lakh tonnes in 2002-03.
Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said in the Rajya Sabha that there has been a slight increase in the domestic production of edible oilseeds. She said domestic demand for edible oil is growing faster than production due to population growth and improvement in living standards of people.
Domestic production of edible oil has declined. She also said that as the production is not enough compared to the demand of edible oil, currently 55% of the shortfall is being met by imports. India has reduced taxes on edible oil imports even as edible oil prices have fallen sharply in the international market. As a result huge reserves of edible oil have been created in the country. Therefore, compared to May 2022, the price of sunflower, soybean, palm oil has decreased by an average of Rs. 80 per kg.
As the domestic edible oil prices are witnessing a fall and the huge import of edible oil is taking place, this is having a major impact on the edible oil and oilseeds farmers in India.
India mainly imports edible oil from Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Due to fall in the price of edible oil in the world market and increase in import volume, a large stock of edible oil has been created in the country. As a result, the demand for edible oil or oilseeds in the country has decreased, complaining that the oilseed producing farmers are not getting proper guaranteed pricefarmerare doing
How are prices of edible oil determined?
Edible oil prices are not determined by how much oilseeds are produced in the country. At the international level, these rates are increasing depending on the production of oilseeds, availability of edible oil, taxes on it and trade. The country requires an average of 120 lakh liters of edible oil in a year. About 60 percent of that edible oil has to be imported.
