National Mission on Edible Oils–Oil Palm

The National Mission on Edible Oils: Oil Palm, approved in 2021, is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for expanding domestic oil-palm cultivation and crude palm oil production. It seeks to reduce India's dependence on imported edible oils while improving farmers' returns through production support and price assurance.

Core objectives

The mission aims to develop a larger and more productive domestic oil-palm sector suited to India's agro-climatic conditions.

• It seeks to expand oil-palm cultivation to 10 lakh hectares by 2025-26, including an additional 6.5 lakh hectares.
• It targets crude palm oil production of 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30.
• It gives special attention to the North-Eastern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which have identified potential for oil-palm cultivation.
• By increasing domestic output, it aims to improve edible-oil availability and reduce the import burden.

Farmer income and price assurance

Because oil palm has a long gestation period and fresh fruit bunches require timely processing, the mission seeks to reduce cultivation and market risks for farmers.

• It provides an assured-return mechanism based on a viability price for fresh fruit bunches linked to crude palm oil prices.
• Where the industry payment falls below the viability price, the scheme provides viability gap funding under prescribed conditions.
• It supports planting material, maintenance during the gestation period and intercropping, thereby promoting farmer income and livelihood opportunities.

Production ecosystem

The mission also seeks to strengthen the complete production chain rather than merely increase cultivated area.

• It supports seed gardens, nurseries and quality planting material to improve productivity.
• It assists irrigation, harvesting tools, machinery and other inputs needed for efficient cultivation.
• It promotes processing capacity near production areas because harvested fresh fruit bunches are perishable and must be processed quickly.