Oil seeds: problems and potential

Our national consumption of editble oils is around 1.95 million tonnes ,of which about 70 percent is met trough imports. import bill of edible oils is second to petroleum and petro products and costs about Rs.25 billion per annum in foreign exchange spending in import of edible oils was US$  788 million in 1998 -1999 which has reduced to us$ 437 million in 1999-2000 and to us$ 295  million in 2000-1. The main  reason for reduction in the import bill was the decrease in international  prices

Oilseeds crops have a strong bearing on national economy as they constitute about 5 per cent of total imports and 50 per cent of agricultural imports. Productivity enhancement of oilseeds, therefore, is of vital importance. Besides crop factors, industrial aspects arc equally important in managing edible oil requirements of the country. That makes it a complex issue.


Edible oils scenario
Pakistan was self-reliant in edible oils during 1947 to 1960. The import of edible oils started in 1960. The import in 1979-80 was 0.35 million tonnes, which increased to, more than one million tonnes during 1991 to 2000. Edible oil imports in 1994-95 were 1.4 million tonnes, which have reduced to 1.2 million tonnes in 2000-01. Import of oilseeds for crushing was started during the same period. This contributed about 0.2 million tonnes additional oil in 2000-01. Domestic production is around 0.6 million tonnes. The imports constitute about 70 per cent of total consumption. Translated in terms of foreign exchange it comes to colossal amount, which is a heavy drain on our already afflicted national economy

Quality of edible oils
Quality of edible oil depends on the presence of fatty acids: higher the level of unsaturated fats, better the nutritional quality: Saturated fat percentage content of canola is 8, safflower 10, sunflower 12, corn 13, olive/soybeen 15, cotton seed 27, palm 51 and coconut 91.

Rapeseed and mustard contain high levels of erucic acid and glucosinolates which are undesirable for health. On the contrary, canola varieties are improved form containing low erucic acid in oil and low glucosinolates in meal.

Another criteria of quality is the melting point: hard oils are semi-solid or solid in
natural state with high melting point such as palm and coconut oils. Soft oils have lower melting point and are liquid in natural condition at normal atmospheric temperature such as canola, sunflower, cotton seed, corn, olive and soybean oils.

Edible oil industry
Oilseeds processing yields oil and meal which also requires proper marketing outlets. Marketing industries include solvent extraction and ^/^manufacturing, besides the seed companies and poultry feed millers. The oilseed processing industry comprises traditional kohlus (oil expellers), low and high-pressure expellers, and solvent extraction plants. Oil extraction efficiency depends upon the choice of the method used for extraction.

The kohlus, about 15-16,000 operational units, primarily used for processing rapeseed and mustard, are mostly located in villages. Oil extraction efficiency is about 75 per cent. Average annual crushing capacity is around 125,000 tonnes.
The expellers, mostly located in cotton growing areas, process cotton seed, besides rape/mustard seeds. The number of productive oil expellers is about 6,000 with an annual average crushing capacity of about 4.275 million tonnes.

The solvent extraction plants, used mainly for processing of canola and sunflower, are the most efficient. This process leaves 0.5 to 1 per cent oil in the meal compared to 8 to 9 per cent oil in the cake in expellers. Of the total 75 plants, only 30 are in working condition with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes. However only 10-12 units are operational. The capacity utilization in solvent extraction units is less than 50 per cent.

Marketing chain
Vegetable ghee manufacturers import in bulk refined, bleached and de-odorized (RBD) palm oil, a hard oil, which constitutes more than 90 per cent of oil imports, besides small quantities of soft oils, mainly soybean oil. They also procure local soft oils produced by the industry. Consumption of ghee is more than 80 per cent whereas cooking oils constitute a small portion of market. The price of the locally produced oil is determined by the cost of the imported hard and soft oils. In the event of depressed international prices, the ultimate sufferer is the grower because his produce is procured on the basis of cost of imported oil.

Farmer, the ultimate sufferer
And yet, farmer who occupies the pivotal position in edible oil production
process is the ultimate sufferer. For the procurement of quality seed and disposal of his produce, he is at the mercy of industry and the middleman. Besides, inputs are expensive. Unless he gets assured marketing of his produce at a reasonable price, he will lack proper incentive to produce a good crop.

Problems and the way out
Higher per capita consumption: Annual per capita consumption of edible oils and ghee in Pakistan is about 14 kilograms (kg) compared to about 3 in Europe. Awareness campaign should be launched to educate the masses for low intake of cooking oil and ghee. The consumption

could gradually be reduced to 8 kg which would cut down the edible oil requirements by 50 per cent i.e. about 0.8 million tonnes.

Excessive imports of hard oil by ghee manufacturing industry:
By conforming to the mandatory blending ratio of 65:35 of hard and soft oils in ghee manufacturing, about 1 /3rd of import, 0.4 million tonnes, can be saved. Further, it will protect growers against the adverse effects of depressed international market.

The import of cheaper edible oils and oilseeds:
It is yet another threat to indigenous oilseeds which should be taken care of by appropriate government policy.

OILSEEDS: THE PLAIN TRUTH
A brief description of oilseed crops is given in the following box.Oilseeds have been grown since times immemorial, and are grouped as conventional and non-conventional. The conventional oilseeds include rapeseed, mustard, groundnut, linseed, castor seed and sesame while the non-conventional, a comparatively recent introduction in the country, are canola, sunflower, soybean, and safflower. Cotton, though a fibre crop, is an important source of edible oil in Pakistan. Corn also yields edible oil as a by-product. Oilpalm, olive, jojoba and saltcornia are new edible oil bearing crops, cultivation of which have been taken up recently in Pakistan.

The contribution of local oilseeds in total edible oil consumption, according to 1999-2000, is around 30 per cent. Of this, contribution of cotton is around 70 per cent, sunflower 13 per cent, rapeseed/mustard 11 per cent and canola 5 per cent. Contribution of other sources is negligible.

Canola and sunflower performance has fluctuated due to lack of policy support. Canola area has decreased from 107,000 ha in 1996-97 to 34,000 in 2000-01.

Likewise sunflower decreased from 173,000 ha in 1998-99 to 72,000 ha in 2000-01. Main reason for this up-surge has been crash down of edible oil prices in the international market. RBD palm oil prices, which dictate the prices of locally produced edible oils, averaged to US$ 725 per tonne in May 1998 and it reduced to US$ 193 in February 2001. Therefore, the marketing has aggravated the development scenario of oilseed sector. This is matter of serious consideration by both public and private sectors- Oilseeds need the priority and patronage to boost its production.

Enhancing oilseeds production
Expanding area under sunflower and canola Autarky in soft oils would require an area of 600,000 hectares under sunflower and canola, which combined with cotton seed oil production level of 0.4 million tonnes per annum, would produce 0.8 million tonnes soft edible oils. This is quite possible to achieve, without competing with wheat. Potential area, available for the cultivation of sunflower and canota, exits as given in Table .

Maximizing productivity
The oilseed have considerable untapped yield potential that should be exploited by increasing the yield per unit area. In case of canola, sunflower and soybean, actual yield is about 50 per cent of the potential whereas it is only 20 to 30 per cent in groundnut, rape/mustard and sesame.

 

Oilpalm cultivation
This is a potential source of edible oil. Oilpalm has the highest oil yield per unitarea. In Pakistan, work on oilpalm promotion started in 1996. It has been established that oilpalm cultivation is successful in the coastal regions of Sindh and Balochistan where about 1.6 million ha are suitable. Total average fruit bunch production  is 20-26 tonnes/ha/ year or about 5-6 tonnes palm oil. Oilpalm producing countries obtain about double this yield under progressive farming.

Olive cultivation
Olive offers a potential source of high value soft oil. There are about 40 million naturally occurring wild olives in Pakistan. The rainfed areas having high rainfall in NWFP and Potohar are well suited for its cultivation. Grafted wild olive trees are available exhibiting successful fruiting. Area available for olive cultivation is about 3.6 million ha. Olives yield 8-10 tonnes fruit per hectare per annum or about 1.5 tonnes olive oil. Two-pronged approach is needed: undertaking new plantations and conversion of wild olives Into fruiting plants through top working i.e. grafting/budding after checking the compatibility of wild and fruiting plants.

augmenting development efforts Planned and concerted efforts should be expended on safflower, groundnut, soybean, rice bran, etc. for edible oil production. Production technology for sunflower and canola should be improved, besides developing area-specific packages of production technologies for oilseed crops.

There is a need to develop low-cost production technologies through reducing cost of seed, development of machinery such as planters, threshers, diggers and dryers. Besides, continuous training of farmers and extension agents is necessary.

Non-processing of cottonseed by the solvent extraction units is wasting about 200,000 tonnes oil in the cake, which is about half of present production. The expellers have a ready market for cake while the solvent extraction units have problem for the disposal of meat

It will be interesting to add that rice bran is un-utilized source for edible oils. And yet more than 200,000 tunnes of rice bran is locally available which if utilized for oil extraction, can contribute about 30,000 tonnes of oil annually. It would mean an annual substitution of edible oil worth one billion rupees. Besides, the oil-extracted bran is a valuable animal feed.

 Edible Oil Production Strategy
Main elements of strategy should include:
• Promotion of sunflower and canola crops, with focus on enhanced area and higher productivity per unit area.
• Olive promotion in NWFP, Potohar and Balochtstan through cultivation of orchards on culturable wastelands and grafting/budding on existing wild trees.
•Oilpalm cultivation in coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
• Mandatory blending of hard and soft oils in 65:35 ratio by vegetable ghee manufacturers. This will ensure market for locally produced soft oils to the extent of 35 per cent in ghee production.
• Assuring availability of quality seed at economical prices to growers and disposal of their produce at reasonable prices. It involves tripartite inter-phasing by the public and private sectors besides farmers. Farmers cooperatives need be encouraged to tide over the input-output constraints.
• A massive awareness campaign to educate consumers on the low use of edible fats.
• Continual research and development efforts with focus on indigenous seed production and lower costs of production to ensure better economic returns to oilseed growers-Thrust of efforts for development and promotion of oilseeds should revolve around the "farmer". Increase in production of oilseeds can only accrue from diversification of sources of oilseeds (particularly sunflower canola, oilpalm and olive), area expansion (particularly through intercropping and exploiting new areas) and productivity enhancement through yield increase by practicing improved crop husbandry.

The way ahead passes through the fields of farmers who should be assured higher profitability in growing oilseeds through economic production and better procurement prices. FO

Manzoor Ahmad
M.salim

The authors are principal Scientific officer and chief scientific officer ,respectively officer in Land Resources Research Institute ,National Research Center , Islamabad -45500 , Pakistan

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