Arooj Zulfiqar

Pakistan needs to focus on large-scale edible oil production in order to cut its import bills and save a significant amount of foreign currency. Potential crops which can reduce the import bill are rapeseed, sunflower and soybean, reports WealthPK.

Despite ecological diversity, suitable climate, and a vast fertile land, Pakistan is unfortunately among the countries with lowest edible oil production. Only 30% of domestic needs are met by local production, while the remaining 70% come from imports. The cost of importing edible oil into Pakistan has surpassed $4 billion annually to meet the pressing demand.

Talking to WealthPK, Nazakat Nawaz, Principal Scientific Officer at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), said, “Pakistan’s annual requirement of edible oil is about five million tons (MT) whereas only 30 percent of the total requirement is met locally.”

He added, “Given the substantial import bill for only one commodity, there must be a significant increase in the local production of edible oil. Pakistan must grow crops that will lower its reliance on imports. Sunflower, rapeseed, and sesame are a few crops that can minimize our reliance on imported edible oil.”

The government also started focusing on the potential of olive to lessen our dependency on imported edible oil after realizing in recent years how urgently local production of edible oil is needed. To encourage the production of edible oils, a five-year mega project called "Enhancement of Productivity of Oil Seeds" was initiated in 2019–20 in addition to the introduction of an edible oil policy and farmer training. Additionally, the government allocated Rs10 billion for sesame, sunflower, and rapeseed,” he said.

The NARC scientist said a total of 2.754 million tonnes of edible oil and oilseeds worth Rs 662.657 billion (US$ 3.681 billion) for crushing were imported during FY2022 (July-March). Local production of edible oil during this period was provisionally estimated at 0.460 million tonnes. The total availability of edible oil during this period was estimated at 3.214 million tonnes. The production and area of different oilseed crops are shown in the following table.

The National Oilseed Enhancement Programme – a massive initiative with a total expenditure of Rs10.964 billion – is being carried out by the Ministry of National Food Security & Research (M/o NFS&R) under the National Agriculture Emergency Program to promote oilseed crops.

Oilseed growers are given a subsidy of Rs5,000 per acre for seeds and inputs for canola, sunflower, and sesame as well as 50% off the cost of oilseed machinery.

He added, “If the funds used for our imported edible oil purchases are allocated to the relevant authorities and proactive work is done in this area, it will aid us in increasing our output. Yet hardly much is accomplished in this regard. Better policy-making by the government is necessary because, without it, we can't put forth much effort.”

Independent News Pakistan-Wealthpk