OILSEED production in Pakistan remains too low, meeting only a fraction of the national demand. As a result, the country spends a huge amount of foreign exchange to import oilseeds to support the oil extraction industry.

That local edible oil production itself meets only a small part of our total requirements is a separate story.

Things may, however, begin to change now. “We are at an advanced stage of consultation with a number of countries and international organisations for developing the seed sector, and a greater focus is being placed on oilseeds,” says a senior official of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.

In the previous fiscal year, output of oilseeds (cottonseed, rapeseed/mustard, canola and sunflower seeds) slipped to 313,000 tonnes from about 328,000 tonnes a year ago, according to official stats. A decline in cotton crop resulted in lower production of cottonseeds and that hit overall availability of oilseeds, officials say.

Historically, locally produced oilseeds have met only a tiny part of our requirements — below 10 per cent in the best-case scenario — and the country has had to rely heavily on imports year after year.

The import bill of oilseeds jumped 10 times to about Rs200bn in the fiscal year 2015-16 from nearly Rs20bn in 2000-01. One reason for the increase was rise in import prices, but the fact remains that we met 65pc to 80pc of our national requirements of oilseeds through imports in each of these 15 years.

Moreover, our national output of both traditional and non-traditional oilseeds during this time never touched the magic mark of 750,000 tonnes, or 25pc of our total requirement of around 3m tonnes, officials say. (Whereas cottonseed, rapeseed/mustard and canola and sunflower seeds make up the bulk of our oilseed output, we also produce other oilseed crops such as groundnut, sesame, linseed, soybean, castor seed and safflower on a limited scale).

Local production meets only a fraction of our requirements, below 10pc in the best-case scenario, and the country has had to rely on imports year after year

Officials of the food ministry say that the need to boost oilseed output has got due recognition in the recently finalised food security policy. Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) is already busy finding ways to ensure adequate availability of oilseeds in the country, they say.

“We’ve been in touch with a dozen private-sector oilseed companies. Their feedback is being sought in implementing previous plans of increasing oilseed production and chalking out new plans,” according to a senior PODB official. “A number of progressive oilseed farmers from across Pakistan are also being consulted.”

Officials say that as part of a previous plan, land under cultivation of traditional sarson, or mustard, is being progressively used for cultivating economically more important canola crop. Canola inter-cropping with sugarcane and in fruit orchards is also going on, they say, adding that the twin measures are expected to boost the output of canola oilseeds in a few years.

In the past seven years, lack of a proper strategy has led to a sharp decline in output of canola seeds —from 76,000 tonnes in the fiscal year 2009-10 to just 15,000 tonnes in 2016-17, according to official stats.

Under another plan, the development of new and hybrid varieties of oilseeds has also got due attention. Food ministry officials say that a couple of new canola varieties and mustard hybrid varieties have been successfully developed in the past seven years. They say that three new canola varieties — including NFA Gold developed by the Nuclear Institute for Food Agriculture, Peshawar, in 2012 — are being widely used. Two mustard hybrid varieties — Coral 432 and PAC 438, also developed in 2012 by ICI Pakistan — are also doing well.

Officials of the food ministry and people associated with the oilseed industry identify a number of constraints to growth of oilseed production in Pakistan. Some key problems are: non-availability of quality seeds, the absence or limited availability of technology for development of new and hybrid varieties, and low support prices of oilseed crops and a dearth of affordable formal finance for small farmers engaged in cultivation of these crops. Besides, marketing and policy constraints and small budgeting for research and innovation are also cited as impediments to growth of oilseed sector in the country.

Executives of private seed companies say that in Pakistan the gap between potential and current yields of oilseed crops is too high — between 50pc and 70pc. “This has to be bridged efficiently if we want to move forward,” says an official of one of the private seed companies. “I hope that with the promised engagement of Chinese companies in developing our agriculture, this and similar issues of the oilseed sector would get some priority.”

Officials say that there are limits to horizontal expansion in oilseed crops, except cotton, due to higher rates of return on major food crops like wheat, rice, sugarcane and maize. The area under cultivation of some oilseed crops (such as linseed and sunflower) has declined in recent years for the same reason.

What we can do instead is to use marginal lands for growing more of oilseed crops, focus on vertical expansion of these crops and incentivise their growers. In addition to other things, vertical expansion requires faster development of high-yield varieties and promotion of non-traditional oilseed crops.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, July 24th, 2017