Campaign to increase production of various oilseeds: Product growth target per hectare

- Production of cereals and dried fruits has increased significantly in the country: now serious efforts have been made to reduce the dependence on imports of edible oils.

In India years ago, the demand for wheat, rice, various pulses and oilseeds was higher than the domestic production and due to that we had to import such items from overseas. However, in the subsequent period, our country has become self-sufficient in foodgrains due to significant increase in domestic production, especially wheat and rice, and now we are able to export foodgrains. However, our country is still not fully self-sufficient in pulses, oilseeds and edible oils and we are still relying to some extent on overseas imports. However, now there are reports that the government has started serious efforts to increase domestic production of pulses and oilseeds in the country. The production per hectare in pulses and oilseeds in India has been significantly lower than the global average and if such production per hectare is increased and the area under cultivation is increased, such production can be significantly increased, said credit experts. Meanwhile, the country's foodgrain production is projected to reach a record level of 4,060 lakh tonnes, according to recent figures.

The country's cereal production of rice is expected to increase from 1913 to 1915 lakh tonnes and wheat production to 104 to 104 lakh tonnes. Pulses production is expected to increase from 205 lakh tonnes to 4 lakh tonnes. Production of various oilseeds in the country is expected to increase from 3 to 4 lakh tonnes to 4 to 5 lakh tonnes. Although the production of pulses and oilseeds has increased, the domestic demand for pulses has also increased significantly and this has necessitated the continuation of imports of pulses and edible oils. Market insiders say that imports can be reduced only if domestic production of these items increases significantly. Dried fruit production in the country has increased by about 30 to 5 per cent in a decade. Compared to 2011-12, the production of dried fruits has increased by 20 to 5 per cent in 2030-21 and has reached close to 3 million tonnes. Now the government is focused on increasing the production of oilseeds. The government has developed new varieties of high yielding soybeans and groundnuts through scientists and the government will distribute the seeds to farmers free of cost, government sources said. Experts said the government has planned a four-phase plan to increase production of various oilseeds in the country. The government has set a target of spending about Rs 50-9 crore to distribute high yielding seeds to farmers free of cost during the kharif season starting June. There have been indications that such a scheme has recently been discussed at the National Conference on Kharif Campaign. Distribution of seed kits and mini kits for farmers National Food. Sources said that this would be done through a security mission (Oil Seeds and Oil Palm). The government, in collaboration with state seed agencies, is considering moving the scheme forward. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh v. Soybean high yielding seeds will be distributed to farmers in about 20 to 5 different districts in the states, following which government sources have directed to get 20 quintals or more of soybean yield per hectare in these districts. About Rs 105 to 105 crore will be spent for this and the target is to increase the area under such cultivation to about 20 lakh hectares in these various districts.

Apart from this, the government has also planned to cultivate soybean as inter chrome in about 1.5 lakh hectares of land in various states for which further efforts will be initiated to create awareness among the farmers. The target is to cover such intercom cultivation for soybean in about 20 to 5 districts in six states. The cost of seed used for this is estimated to be around Rs 5 to 20 crore. In the third phase, about 50 districts in nine states will be covered under the scheme and government-owned seed agencies will spend about Rs 50 crore on the distribution of such mini kits. In the fourth phase, the target will be to increase the production of groundnut and for this Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu etc. The high yielding seeds will be provided to farmers in different states at a cost of about Rs 15 crore. It is claimed that this seed can produce 2 quintals per hectare and more. The target has been set to increase the overall production of oilseeds and increase the total cultivated area to 3 to 4 lakh hectares.