PALM OIL CONFERENCE DISPELS MYTHS, HIGHLIGHTS CROP’S KEY ROLE IN SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS

Y. Kishore, an IPOS-certified oil palm farmer from Chintampalle village in the Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh state in India.

Palm Oil - Transforming Perceptions for Health and Nutrition, a conference to dispel common misconceptions about the impact of palm oil on health, nutrition and the environment was held recently in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.

The event was organized jointly by Solidaridad Asia, the Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA), and the Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) of India, and featured a number of speakers.

"India, as the world's largest importer of palm oil, is committed to becoming self-sufficient in edible oil production. However, in recent years, misleading reports about its impact on health, nutrition, and the environment have surfaced, causing harm to our farmers, especially smallholders, and negatively affecting our economy," said Atul Chaturvedi, the chairman of APOA, at the event.

The APOA further highlighted India's growing reliance on palm oil, which now represents around 38 percent of the total edible oil consumed in the country. India's annual domestic consumption of edible oil is 24-25 million metric tonnes, with palm oil making up 9 million metric tonnes of the total.

Additionally, between November 2022 and October 2023, the country imported 14.9 million metric tonnes (164.7 lakh tonnes) of edible oil (worth 15.162 billion euros or ₹1.38 lakh crores) - a 17.39 percent increase over the previous year. In this scenario, increasing the domestic cultivation of palm oil can cut down dependence on imports, says APOA.

The conference brought together leading nutritionists, scientists, medical professionals and edible oil industrialists to discuss the multiple benefits of palm oil and its place within India's edible oil landscape.

Health experts also discussed the potential benefits of palm oil and its consumption, focusing particularly on its antioxidant properties, high carotenoid content, balanced fatty acid composition, and its effects on heart and brain health.

The discussions at the event outlined plans to expand oil palm cultivation by an additional 0.65 million hectares by 2025-26. [According to the Economic Survey 2021-22, which provides the latest official estimate of oil palm coverage in India, the crop has been cultivated across 0.37 million hectares of land in the country, out of a total potential area of nearly 2.8 million hectares.]

This expansion is expected to significantly boost domestic production, with projections indicating that crude palm oil production could reach 1.12 million metric tonnes by 2025-26, and 2.8 million metric tonnes by 2029-30. This would mark significant progress towards India's goal of achieving self-sufficiency in edible oil production.

"We are actively engaged in promoting sustainable practices in the palm oil sector through initiatives such as the Indian Palm Oil Sustainability (IPOS) standards platform," said Shatadru Chattopadhyay, Managing Director, Solidaridad Asia.

The seminar acknowledged the pivotal role played by the government's National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) in guiding and steering efforts towards achieving its self-sufficiency goal.

As Sougata Niyogi, CEO-Oil Palm Business, Godrej Agrovet Limited, stated, "The NMEO-OP's efforts represent a step in the right direction for our country to reduce the import of edible oil. With a potential to yield 3-4 tonnes/hectare/year, it is one of the highest-yielding crops among vegetable oil-seed crops."

"Requiring less water compared to other crops, [oil palm] also enables farmers to have an assured source of income for more than 20 years, besides leaving room for alternate sources of livelihood through intercropping," he added. "With only agricultural land permitted for growing the crop, oil palm also aids in increasing the biodiversity in the region."

"Palm oil gives 5-10 percent higher oil production than other oil seeds. It can help India achieve self-sufficiency in domestic consumption because its consumption is rising significantly and its economic costing makes it a perfect [edible] vegetable oil," said Suresh Motwani, Solidaridad Network's regional head for vegetable oil and Secretary General of APOA.

The event set the stage for how India's palm oil industry addresses environmental concerns and promotes sustainable practices uniting stakeholders behind plans for industry expansion. Its health benefits, as well as its increasing role in India's edible oil sector, positions palm oil as a contributor to a secure and sustainable future in India.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.