India’s Palm Oil Problem
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India is the world's fifth largest economy in the world in 2024, with a GDP of close to four billion. ForbesIndia
By 2027, India is expected to surpass Germany and Japan to become the world's third largest economy. Focus Economics.
India’s agriculture sector is the backbone of its economy. Out of the 93.09 million agricultural households in India, a staggering 82 per cent are small and marginal farmers, typically holding less than two hectares of land. Despite their importance, the average monthly income of Indian farmers hovers around US$125 per month, starkly lower than the national average per-capita income of US$200 per month. Nilanjan Banik/ Mahindra University
By 2027, India is expected to surpass Germany and Japan to become the world's third largest economy. Focus Economics.
India’s agriculture sector is the backbone of its economy. Out of the 93.09 million agricultural households in India, a staggering 82 per cent are small and marginal farmers, typically holding less than two hectares of land. Despite their importance, the average monthly income of Indian farmers hovers around US$125 per month, starkly lower than the national average per-capita income of US$200 per month. Nilanjan Banik/ Mahindra University
Y. Kishore, an IPOS-certified oil palm farmer from Chintampalle village in the Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh state in India.
As the leading sector in terms of employment and contributing over 16 percent to the country’s GDP, agriculture in India is responsible for the livelihoods of millions. Statista
India has transitioned from being a food-deficit nation to a self-sufficient food-producing country in the last 30 years. United Nations India.
Despite its incredible achievements towards self-sufficiency in food, India as a nation of farmers, has been unable to be self-sufficient in edible oils.
Relatively low growth in the area under cultivation or acreage and a stagnant crop yield were the major reasons for stagnant edible oilseed output in the country leading to imports and the loss of valuable foreign exchange according to the Economic Times
As an agricultural powerhouse, India uses its agri-economic muscles to deal with the dual problems of excess production in domestic wheat and rice and uncertain supplies for edible oils in global commodities markets.
For example, when Indonesia, a primary supplier of palm oil to India imposed a ban on exports, India through its own ban on exports of wheat sought a deal where:
India may permit the export of wheat to meet Indonesia's food grain demand through an arrangement where the Southeast Asian nation supplies palm oil without any interruption at a competitive rate to address India's concerns over the shortage of edible oil.
In another display of using its agri-economic strength in wheat production, India sought a deal with Egypt which faced a crisis in foreign currency losses by proposing a barter trade free of the impacts of currency exchanges.
"The agreement would allow Egypt to make purchases in rupees and bartering is being considered as a means to settle this debt through the sale of Egyptian products that might be of use for India,"
This level of G2G deals to provide their respective citizens with affordable food was repeated recently when Malaysia, another big supplier of palm oil to India, looked for a deal to trade its palm oil for Indian rice and sugar.
Deglobalization is a major goal for the Indian government which wants to become less of a victim to global economic dynamics, including trade imbalances and debt burdens which exacerbate poverty in India.
These are key goals to the well-being of Indians which are poorly understood by folks like Ravi Chellam from Metastring Foundation whose opinion on India’s effort towards self-suffiency in edible oils was reported as wreaking havoc on the ground.
Misinformation India’s Biggest Palm Oil Problem
There lies the biggest problem for India’s ambition to become self-sufficient in edible oils by expanding oil palm cultivation.
Misinformed opinions by people like Ravi Chellam who joins the many Indian trolls on social media platforms to offer “expert advice” on topics which they do not really know about. That does not stop them from talking as if they know.
A typical example is how Ravi Chellam completely distorted news reports on Malaysian Minister Johari Ghani’s press statement and presented the Minister’s words “if India gives land” as if it was some colonial demand.
What Ravi omitted intentionally in order to promote an anti-palm oil stance for anyone reading his opinion, is that the Malaysian Minister wanted to “increase bilateral cooperation in the field of edible oil, especially the cultivation of oil palm, and the production and trade of palm oil.”
In a nod to the importance of small farmers in their respective countries, Minister Johari met with India’s agriculture minister Shivrag Singh Chouhan and offered Malaysia’s support to India to achieve “Aatmanirbhar” or self-sufficiency in edible oils.
But noting India's wont for trade in kind, Minister Johari made it clear that Malaysia does not favor “any barter” and said it should be based on open market prices.
This is an obvious win-win scenario for farmers in both countries but more so for Indian farmers who have the Indian government’s Minimum Support Price to back up farmer earnings. This is a feature that is not available to Malaysian farmers but what is available is a well established production system for the Malaysian palm oil industry to support Malaysian smallholders. Within Malaysia’s experience with producing palm oil sustainably are invaluable lessons for India in its goal for aatmanirbhar in edible oils.
The Malaysian expertise on producing palm oil sustainably may not answer all the problems in producing palm oil in India as M Rajshekar wrote for Carbon Copy but for Ravi Chellam to make a simplistic suggestion for India to rethink her mission to be self-sufficient in edible oils with traditional oilseeds shows he is not informed.
Achieving self-sufficiency in traditional oilseeds such as mustard, groundnut and soyabean would require bringing an additional area of 39 million hectares under cultivation, which could cut area under cereals thus endangering food security.
There is an obvious need for India to stay with its belief that palm oil cultivation is a needed crop in achieving self-sufficiency for edible oils regardless of what average folks like Ravi Chellam says.
C.K. Mishra, former secretary to the government of India offered a realistic opinion in The Print India:
India’s need for palm oil cultivation is undeniable, and the NMEO-OP is a critical step toward reducing import dependence and benefiting farmers through increased income and employment opportunities. Sustainable palm oil cultivation is not only viable but essential for India’s economic, environmental, and “Atmanirbhar” future.
To better understand complex issues in India’s National Mission on Edible Oils, Ravi Chellam should read the opinions of Dr Shatadru Chattopadhayay, Managing Director of Solidaridad, to gain insights into how India is navigating this complex landscape with palm oil in the mix.
Q: Why is Solidaridad promoting palm oil when India is also a leading grower of other oilseeds like soy, groundnut and mustard?
A: While India is indeed a leading grower of other oilseeds, palm oil remains unmatched in terms of yield and efficiency. Palm oil produces significantly more oil per hectare than any other common vegetable oil. A single oil palm seed provides two different kinds of oil. One that is used for cooking; the other palm kernel oil used in everything from cosmetics to biofuels.
India consumes around 23 million tons of vegetable oil, but only 40% is produced within the country. India's vegetable oil consumption is growing. The key is making sure it's planted in the right places and doesn't disturb precious ecosystems.
We wrote to Dr Shatadru Chattopadhayay to ask about the palm oil threat to ecology in Northern India as Ravi Chellam had identified this region as being an environmental victim of India’s NMEO.
Dr Shatadru Chattopadhayay rubbished Ravi Chellam's claims by quoting the Developmental Action Plan for Promoting Oil Palm in the North Eastern Region of India
It is a long but essential read for anyone with an interest in facts on India's push for self sufficiency in edible oils. In short:
As per the the North Eastern Council of Government of India, the North Eastern Region of India has been identified as suitable for oil palm cultivation without causing environmental degradation. Oil Palm rather aids in soil conservation, repairs degraded land, and provides ecological balance, especially in areas affected by shifting cultivation. As oil palm is proposed to be grown on wastelands and fallow lands, there will be no destruction of forests as claimed by environmental activists.
To achieve that balance, palm oil industry stakeholders in production and trade have developed a set of sustainability standards unique to India under the Indian Palm Oil Sustainability Framework (IPOS). Developed with the help of scientists from the Indian Palm Oil Research Institute, IPOS has established itself as the authoritative voice on the sustainability of India’s NMEO.
The establishment of IPOS to guide India's plans for domestic palm oil production speaks volumes on how India can achieve Viksit Bharat without having to sacrifice the natural environment.
Published August 2024 CSPO Watch
India has transitioned from being a food-deficit nation to a self-sufficient food-producing country in the last 30 years. United Nations India.
Despite its incredible achievements towards self-sufficiency in food, India as a nation of farmers, has been unable to be self-sufficient in edible oils.
Relatively low growth in the area under cultivation or acreage and a stagnant crop yield were the major reasons for stagnant edible oilseed output in the country leading to imports and the loss of valuable foreign exchange according to the Economic Times
As an agricultural powerhouse, India uses its agri-economic muscles to deal with the dual problems of excess production in domestic wheat and rice and uncertain supplies for edible oils in global commodities markets.
For example, when Indonesia, a primary supplier of palm oil to India imposed a ban on exports, India through its own ban on exports of wheat sought a deal where:
India may permit the export of wheat to meet Indonesia's food grain demand through an arrangement where the Southeast Asian nation supplies palm oil without any interruption at a competitive rate to address India's concerns over the shortage of edible oil.
In another display of using its agri-economic strength in wheat production, India sought a deal with Egypt which faced a crisis in foreign currency losses by proposing a barter trade free of the impacts of currency exchanges.
"The agreement would allow Egypt to make purchases in rupees and bartering is being considered as a means to settle this debt through the sale of Egyptian products that might be of use for India,"
This level of G2G deals to provide their respective citizens with affordable food was repeated recently when Malaysia, another big supplier of palm oil to India, looked for a deal to trade its palm oil for Indian rice and sugar.
Deglobalization is a major goal for the Indian government which wants to become less of a victim to global economic dynamics, including trade imbalances and debt burdens which exacerbate poverty in India.
These are key goals to the well-being of Indians which are poorly understood by folks like Ravi Chellam from Metastring Foundation whose opinion on India’s effort towards self-suffiency in edible oils was reported as wreaking havoc on the ground.
Misinformation India’s Biggest Palm Oil Problem
There lies the biggest problem for India’s ambition to become self-sufficient in edible oils by expanding oil palm cultivation.
Misinformed opinions by people like Ravi Chellam who joins the many Indian trolls on social media platforms to offer “expert advice” on topics which they do not really know about. That does not stop them from talking as if they know.
A typical example is how Ravi Chellam completely distorted news reports on Malaysian Minister Johari Ghani’s press statement and presented the Minister’s words “if India gives land” as if it was some colonial demand.
What Ravi omitted intentionally in order to promote an anti-palm oil stance for anyone reading his opinion, is that the Malaysian Minister wanted to “increase bilateral cooperation in the field of edible oil, especially the cultivation of oil palm, and the production and trade of palm oil.”
In a nod to the importance of small farmers in their respective countries, Minister Johari met with India’s agriculture minister Shivrag Singh Chouhan and offered Malaysia’s support to India to achieve “Aatmanirbhar” or self-sufficiency in edible oils.
But noting India's wont for trade in kind, Minister Johari made it clear that Malaysia does not favor “any barter” and said it should be based on open market prices.
This is an obvious win-win scenario for farmers in both countries but more so for Indian farmers who have the Indian government’s Minimum Support Price to back up farmer earnings. This is a feature that is not available to Malaysian farmers but what is available is a well established production system for the Malaysian palm oil industry to support Malaysian smallholders. Within Malaysia’s experience with producing palm oil sustainably are invaluable lessons for India in its goal for aatmanirbhar in edible oils.
The Malaysian expertise on producing palm oil sustainably may not answer all the problems in producing palm oil in India as M Rajshekar wrote for Carbon Copy but for Ravi Chellam to make a simplistic suggestion for India to rethink her mission to be self-sufficient in edible oils with traditional oilseeds shows he is not informed.
Achieving self-sufficiency in traditional oilseeds such as mustard, groundnut and soyabean would require bringing an additional area of 39 million hectares under cultivation, which could cut area under cereals thus endangering food security.
There is an obvious need for India to stay with its belief that palm oil cultivation is a needed crop in achieving self-sufficiency for edible oils regardless of what average folks like Ravi Chellam says.
C.K. Mishra, former secretary to the government of India offered a realistic opinion in The Print India:
India’s need for palm oil cultivation is undeniable, and the NMEO-OP is a critical step toward reducing import dependence and benefiting farmers through increased income and employment opportunities. Sustainable palm oil cultivation is not only viable but essential for India’s economic, environmental, and “Atmanirbhar” future.
To better understand complex issues in India’s National Mission on Edible Oils, Ravi Chellam should read the opinions of Dr Shatadru Chattopadhayay, Managing Director of Solidaridad, to gain insights into how India is navigating this complex landscape with palm oil in the mix.
Q: Why is Solidaridad promoting palm oil when India is also a leading grower of other oilseeds like soy, groundnut and mustard?
A: While India is indeed a leading grower of other oilseeds, palm oil remains unmatched in terms of yield and efficiency. Palm oil produces significantly more oil per hectare than any other common vegetable oil. A single oil palm seed provides two different kinds of oil. One that is used for cooking; the other palm kernel oil used in everything from cosmetics to biofuels.
India consumes around 23 million tons of vegetable oil, but only 40% is produced within the country. India's vegetable oil consumption is growing. The key is making sure it's planted in the right places and doesn't disturb precious ecosystems.
We wrote to Dr Shatadru Chattopadhayay to ask about the palm oil threat to ecology in Northern India as Ravi Chellam had identified this region as being an environmental victim of India’s NMEO.
Dr Shatadru Chattopadhayay rubbished Ravi Chellam's claims by quoting the Developmental Action Plan for Promoting Oil Palm in the North Eastern Region of India
It is a long but essential read for anyone with an interest in facts on India's push for self sufficiency in edible oils. In short:
As per the the North Eastern Council of Government of India, the North Eastern Region of India has been identified as suitable for oil palm cultivation without causing environmental degradation. Oil Palm rather aids in soil conservation, repairs degraded land, and provides ecological balance, especially in areas affected by shifting cultivation. As oil palm is proposed to be grown on wastelands and fallow lands, there will be no destruction of forests as claimed by environmental activists.
To achieve that balance, palm oil industry stakeholders in production and trade have developed a set of sustainability standards unique to India under the Indian Palm Oil Sustainability Framework (IPOS). Developed with the help of scientists from the Indian Palm Oil Research Institute, IPOS has established itself as the authoritative voice on the sustainability of India’s NMEO.
The establishment of IPOS to guide India's plans for domestic palm oil production speaks volumes on how India can achieve Viksit Bharat without having to sacrifice the natural environment.
Published August 2024 CSPO Watch
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