ICAR aims to raise oilseed output by 40% to 45mn ton by 2022.

ICAR aims to increase oilseeds production by 40 per cent in the next five years to 45 million tonnes by bringing more area under cultivation and raising crop yield. The increase in oilseeds output would help the country in cutting down import of vegetable oils to less than 50 per cent from the current 70 per cent. India produced 32.1 million tonnes of oilseeds in the 2016–17 crop year (July–June) from 26.21 million hectares at a productivity of 1,225 kg per hectare. The country imported about 14.5 million tonnes of vegetable oils in 2016–17. The institute has identified 17.5 million hectares of fallow land in various states and out of that it wants at least 3.5 million hectares to be brought under oilseeds crop. The ICAR institute has pegged the total vegetable oil requirement at 33.20 million tonnes by 2022 and estimated that 17.03 million tonnes would be available from domestic market and over 16 million tonnes would be imported.