Agriculture Ministry Issues Detailed Guidelines for NMOOP

Agriculture Ministry has issued detailed guidelines and strategy to be adopted for implementation of the National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP).

Rs. 3507 crore have been sanctioned for NMOOP in the 12^th Plan. The scheme aims at enhancing production of traditional oilseed and tree-borne oilseed. In addition, significant area is sought to be brought under oil palm.

The strategy to implement the proposed Mission includes

1. increasing Seed Replacement Ratio (SRR) with focus on Varietal Replacement;
2. increasing irrigation coverage under oilseeds from 26% to 36%;
3. diversification of area from low yielding cereals crops to oilseeds crops; inter-cropping of oilseeds with cereals/ pulses/ sugarcane;
4. use of fallow land after paddy /potato cultivation;
5. expansion of cultivation of Oil Palm and tree borne oilseeds in watersheds and wastelands;
6. increasing availability of quality planting material enhancing procurement of oilseeds and collection; and
7.  processing of tree borne oilseeds.

Inter-cropping during gestation period of oil palm and tree borne oilseeds would provide economic return to the farmers when there is no production.

The scheme would be implemented in mission mode through active involvement of all the stakeholders. The Centre and States will bear costs in the ratio of 75:25. Fund flow would be strictly monitored to ensure that benefit of the Mission reaches the targeted beneficiaries in time to achieve the results.

MINI-MISSIONS

NMOOP is to be implemented under three mini-missions.

The Mini Mission I, on oilseeds, aims at increasing production from 28.93 million tonnes during 11^th Plan to 35.51 million tonnes in 12^th Plan. The productivity will rise from 1081 kg/ha during the 11^th Plan period to 1328 kg/ha of oilseeds during 12^thPlan period.

Mini Mission II, on oil palm, aims at bringing additional 1.25 lakh hectare area under oil palm cultivation through area expansion. Wastelands will also be ustilised for this purpose. The mini-mission seeks to increase productivity of fresh fruit brunches from 4927 kg per ha to 15000 kg per ha.

Mini Mission III, on tree-borne oilseed (TBOs), aims at enhancing seed collection of TBOs from 9 lakh tonnes to 14 lakh tonnes.

NEED FOR MISSION APPROACH

India is among major oilseed growers and edible oil importers.  India’s vegetable oil economy is world’s fourth largest after USA, China and Brazil. The oilseed accounts for 13% of the gross cropped area, 3% of the Gross National Product and 10% value of all agricultural commodities.

The diverse agro-ecological conditions in the country are favourable for growing 9 annual oilseed crops, which include 7 edible oilseeds (groundnut, rapeseed & mustard, soybean, sunflower, sesame, safflower and niger) and two non-edible oilseeds (castor and linseed).  Oilseeds cultivation is undertaken across the country in about 27 million hectares mainly on marginal lands, of which 72% in confined to rainfed farming.

During the last few years, the domestic consumption of edible oils has increased substantially and has touched the level of 18.90 million tonnes in 2011-12 and is likely to increase further. With per capita consumption of vegetable oils at the rate of 16 kg/year/person for a projected population of 1276 million, the total vegetable oils demand is likely to touch 20.4 million tonnes by 2017.

A substantial portion of our requirement of edible oil is met through import of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.  It is, therefore, necessary to exploit domestic resources to maximize production to ensure edible oil security for the country.

Oil palm is a comparatively new crop in India and is the highest vegetable oil yielding perennial crop. With quality planting materials, irrigation and proper management, there is potential of achieving 20-30 MT Fresh Fruit Bunches per ha after attaining age of 5 years.  Therefore, there is an urgent need to intensify efforts for area expansion under oil palm to enhance palm oil production in the country. Tree-borne oilseeds (TBOs), like sal, mahua, simarouba, kokum, olive, karanja, jatropha, neem, jojoba, cheura, wild apricot, walnut, tung etc. are cultivated or grow wild in the country under different agro-climatic conditions. These TBOs are also good source of vegetable oil and therefore need to be supported for cultivation.