24/09/2012 (Business Standard) - The government has prepared a programme in the 12th Five Year Plan to increase production of oilseeds as well as enhance oil palm cultivation.

“The agriculture ministry has prepared an extensive programme in the 12th Five Year Plan to increase the oilseed production and to enhance oil palm cultivation in the country,” said K V Thomas, minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution at The Solvent Extractors' Association of India annual general meeting.

Under this programme the government aims to produce and purchase breeder seeds with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and state agricultural universities, supply cheap and alternate fertilisers and distribution of farm implements.

“This will enable to increase the production and productivity of oilseeds from the present yield of 1,000 kg per hectare to 1,431 per kg hectare, which will in turn result in increased production of oilseeds from 30 million tonnes to about 38 million tonnes by 2017,” he added.

Further, he said, under a special programme on oil palm area expansion (OPAE), support in the form of 50 per cent of cost is extended for four years to oil palm growing farmers and for promotion of dip irrigation.

Special emphasis on development of wasteland, especially in the northeast is expected to put an additional three lakh hectares of land under oil palm cultivation, he said.

 The government is also considering the issue of increasing the quota for export of edible oils in branded consumer packs from 10,000 tonnes.

“As per the fourth advance estimates by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, the oilseed production for 2011-12 is 300.12 lakh tonne compared to 342.79 lakh tonnes in the previous year. The production of oils from these oilseeds is likely to be 71.25 lakh tonne compared to 76.27 lakh tonnes in the previous year indicating a decrease of about 6.6 per cent,” he said

Thomas also said that the production of wheat and rice is likely to be as good as last year due to improvement in rainfall towards the end of the monsoon season.

Last year, India produced 104.32 million tonnes of rice and 93.9 million tonnes of wheat.