Srinagar- The Jammu and Kashmir administration is planning to increase the coverage of oilseeds (Mustard) during the Rabi season in the Kashmir Division. This initiative stems from the growing demand for oilseeds observed across various states in the country.
An official told Kashmir Observer that a decision has been made to increase the coverage of Oilseeds in Rabi Season by bringing in available area under Paddy cultivation to Oilseeds during Rabi 2021-22 and for that a “modus operandi” will be adopted.
During Rabi season, Oilseed (Mustard) is grown over an area of approximately 40000 hectares in Kashmir Division.
Figures from the agriculture department revealed that the total area already under Paddy in the valley is 135960 hectares and the area already under Oilseeds during the year 2021-22 is 34570 hectares.
The official document reveals that the new area under Oilseeds during 2021-22 Mission Mode is 61744 hectares and the area expansion under Oilseeds in 2022-23 is 38610 hectares.
The total area, according to the document, to be brought under Oilseeds from 2021 to 2023-24 is 140000 hectares with the percentage increase in Oilseeds area 253.12 %.
The government anticipates 133.4 metric tonnes of oil production from 140000 hectares and 44.022 metric tonnes production of edible oils at 300g / kg of seed.
It anticipates the value of Oil at Rs. 175/kg worth 770.385 Crores.
Director Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhury Mohammad Iqbal told Kashmir Observer that the valley is witnessing “Yellow revolution” and not only farmers and locals but tourists are also finding yellow fields in this season as a picturesque spectacle.
“In 2021-22, we started this mission and bought seeds from the central government and set a target of bringing 60 lakh hectares of land under mustard cultivation,” he said, adding, “In 2022-2023, they managed to bring 1.40 lakh hectares of land under mustard cultivation.”
Iqbal further said they organized many awareness programs for farmers and now they are getting benefits of it.
Agriculture plays a predominant role in the development of the economy of J&K. Around 70% of the population of the State resides in the rural areas and is directly or indirectly dependent upon this sector for their livelihood and employability.
Jammu and Kashmir has a varied climate, ranging from Sub-tropical, temperate regions of Jammu to temperate regions of Kashmir. The total geographical area is 1.01 lac Sq. Kms, out of which the net cultivable area is 7.52 lac hectares with gross area sown being 11.65 lac hectares.
Last year, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that Kashmir division is witnessing the ‘Yellow Revolution’ with oilseed crops registering significant growth.
“There will be additional opportunities for oil extraction and value addition and therefore more entrepreneurial opportunities for people,” said the Lt Governor.
He further said that according to an estimate, mustard oil worth Rs 800 crore was produced in 2023 in the Kashmir Valley.
Lately, there is a spurt in the vegetable oil consumption in recent years in the J&K and other states of the country in respect of both edible as well as industrial usages.
The government said that the demand-supply gap in the edible oils has necessitated huge imports accounting for 60 percent of the country’s requirement (2016-17: import 14.01 million tonnes; cost Rs. 73,048 crore).
“Despite commendable performance of domestic oilseeds production of the nine annual crops (Compound Annual Growth Rate of 3.89%), it could not match with the galloping rate of per capita demand (~6%) due to enhanced per capita consumption (18 kg oil per annum) driven by increase in population and enhanced per capita income,” they said.
The document further says that as a policy matter, the government of India once again decided to work on mission mode to reduce the dependence of the country on edible oil imports objective of this new mission of the Government is not only to bring self-reliance in edible oils but also to transfer money to farmers on the expenses incurred on the oil imports.
It further adds that with the growing population of the country, consumption of edible oil would also increase.
“In such a situation, bridging the huge gap between the edible oil imports and the domestic production by achieving ‘self-reliance’ in edible oil is a major goal,” the document reads.
Under the National Oilseeds Mission, the government plans to increase production of soyabean, mustard-rapeseed, groundnut, sunflower, sesame, and safflower.
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