Arunachal finalises oil palm mission

• Arunachal Pradesh has finalised the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) and will go “full swing” in implementing it across 1.33 lakh hectares soon.
• The NMEO-OP’s predecessor was the National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm.

Need for such schemes:

• India is the largest consumer of vegetable oil in the world.
• India’s Palm oil imports are almost 60% of its total vegetable oil imports.
• Recently, India’s dependence on expensive imports has driven retail oil prices to new highs.
• In India, 94.1% of its palm oil is used in food products, especially for cooking. Thus, palm oil is extremely important to India’s edible oils economy.
• The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel.
• Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from oil crops in 2014.
• Top consumers: India, China, and the European Union (EU).

Features of the Scheme:

• Objective: To ensure self-sufficiency in edible oil production.
• Aim: To reduce import dependence from 60% to 45% by 2024-25, by increasing domestic edible oil production from 10.5 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes which is a 70% growth target.
• Farmers will get all needed facilities, from quality seeds to technology.
• Along with promoting the cultivation of oil palm, this mission will also expand the cultivation of our other traditional oilseed crops.