India is the largest importer of edible oils. Approximately 60 percent of India’s edible oil consumption is met through imports. However, dependence of import of edible oils seems to have no chances of decreasing as farmers are switching to maize cultivation instead of oilseeds such as soyabean and groundnut.
The minimum support price (MSP) for soyabean has been fixed at Rs 4,892 per quintal, but market prices have hovered 10-20% below this level since October 2024, largely due to weak demand of soyabean.
As per the information revealed by Atul Chaturvedi, executive chairman of the Asian Palm Oil Alliance, “Despite cooking oil prices being relatively higher than last year, soyabean prices have ruled below the MSP because of low realisation from the soyabean oil.
Increased Research for Genome-Edited Seeds
Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has begun engaging with farmers. The agriculture minister stressed on focusing on research for productivity, genome-edited seeds and high-tech mechanisation support.
Pulses imports have reached a new record heights of 6.63 million tonnes in 2024.