National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)

• 13 Aug 2021

A new national initiative on palm oil production - National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) - was announced by the Union Govt. to help increase farm incomes.

• The scheme for self-reliance in edible oil involves investment of over Rs 11,000 crore.

Need

• To curb on hefty import bills (India's palm oil imports are almost 60% of its total vegetable oil imports).
• To check domestic edible oil prices that is dictated by expensive palm oil imports.
• To fill the huge disparity in production and import of Palm Oil (India is the largest consumer of vegetable oil in the world. In 2016 -2017, the total domestic consumption of palm oil by India was 9.3 million MT, with 98.97 per cent of it imported from Malaysia and Indonesia. This means India was producing domestically only 1.027 per cent of its requirement)

About the Scheme

• Raise Domestic Production: The Centre plans to raise the domestic production of palm oil by three times to 11 lakh MT by 2025-26. This will involve raising the area under oil palm cultivation to 10 lakh hectares by 2025-26 and 16.7 lakh hectares by 2029-30.
• Incentive: The scheme is expected to incentivise production of palm oil to reduce dependence on imports and help farmers cash in on the huge market.
• Area of Special Emphasis: The special emphasis of the scheme will be in India's north-eastern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to the conducive weather conditions in the regions.

India’s Initiatives towards Palm Oil Production

• India has been trying to expand its domestic production by investing in domestic oil palm. Government schemes between 2011-14, like the Oil Palm Area Expansion (OPAE) and National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP 2014), were launched to increase domestic cultivation of oil palm.