In the context of Ukraine crisis, Government of India must incentivize farmers to grow more oil seeds. Explain (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 2 years
KEY POINTS
· Sunflower is India’s fourth most consumed cooking oil, after palm, soyabean and mustard. The country imports about 98 per cent of its sunflower oil requirement almost 93 per cent of that coming from Ukraine and Russia.
· The ongoing conflict and disruption in shipments from Black Sea ports is rubbing off on these oils too, compounded by dry weather in South America and Indonesia imposing a 20 per cent domestic market sale obligation on its palm oil exporters.
· The country’s vegetable oil import bill totalled $11.09 billion in 2020-21 and $14.02 billion in April-December 2021, which may well cross $17-18 billion for the whole fiscal.
· Russia is, incidentally, also the world’s top wheat exporter, with Ukraine at third position both in wheat (behind Australia) and maize (after the US and Argentina).
· The government should declare higher MSPs preferably, as a one-time bonus for groundnut, soyabean, sesamum and sunflower to incentivise farmers to grow these oilseeds in the ensuing kharif season.
· There is a need for focused campaigns, especially in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, to wean farmers away from paddy to oilseeds, pulses and cotton.
· The best way to do it is through guaranteed MSP procurement which may not be required if open market prices stay high.
