Crop diversification through oilseeds for enhancing the productivity and profitability

Abstract

Indian agriculture is now facing second generation problems like rising or lowering of watertable, nutrient imbalance, soil degradation, resurgence of pests and diseases, environmentalpollution and decline in farm profit. Crop diversification shows lot of promise in alleviating these problems. Crop diversification is recognized as one of the most environmentally feasible, costeffective,
and reasonable approaches to reduce uncertainty in agriculture. India’s diverse agroecological conditions enable the cultivation of nine annual oilseed crops, including groundnut, rapeseed-mustard, soybean, sunflower, sesame, safflower, niger, castor and linseed. However, a major challenge lies in the rainfed area, which contributes 76% of the oilseed cultivation area and around 80% of total production. India’s oilseed production reached a new high of 41.35 million tonnes (MT) in 2022-23, reflecting a significant increase of 3.39 MT compared to the previous year. Despite this positive growth, the country still falls short of meeting domestic demand of edible oil. Oilseed crops offer unique opportunities for industrial and edible uses of oil and have potential to spread to newer niches leading to crop diversification. Promoting oilseed crops and diversification in existing cropping systems and new niches in the country can have important nutritional benefits for farmers and support towards making self-reliant in terms of edible oil requirements besides
promoting industrial applications and value addition.