Oil palm is a low maintenance, high yield, perennial plantation crop. It is one of the essential food items such as onions and pulses and widely used by a majority of Indians.
Palm oil is now widely used for blending and adulterating refined oils and is omnipresent in packaged and processed foods.
Fresh fruit bunches of palm yield at least five times more oil per unit of land compared to other oil seeds.
Cheap palm oil, nearly all of it imported, accounts for over a third of India’s edible oil consumption; overall, India imports 60% of its requirements.
To add to this mix, India is also consuming genetically modified soy oil, which is imported from countries such as Argentina and Brazil.
Together, imported palm and soy oil (12mt) account for close to half of India’s annual edible oil consumption, damaging the future prospects of home-grown oilseeds.
