PAKISTAN spends a huge amount of foreign exchange on import of edible oil to bridge the wide gap between domestic production and consumption.
According to Director Crops, National Agriculture Research Council, Akbar Shah Mohmand, a sum of Rs200 billion per annum can be saved on edible oil import by raising output of domestic oilseeds.
The domestic demand for edible oil is around two million tons of which about 70 per cent is met through imports. Edible oil is the second most import item after petroleum.
There is a need for the government to pay attention to cultivation of import substitute products. At present more than a dozen oilseed crops are grown in the country. Canola, introduced in 1985-86 on experimental basis, is now cultivated over 800,000 acres. Canola and sunflower are planted in rain-fed areas in Punjab, particularly in Rawalpindi and Chakwal districts. However, the major crop among them is cottonseed which yields up to 57 per cent of edible oil.
Canola meal is a better source of calcium, iron, manganese, phosphorus, and selenium. It contains more choline, biotin, folicacid, riboflavin, and thiamine and a higher quantity of essential amino acid methionine but the content of lysine is lower. Canola is neither bitter nor has any odour due to less content of erucic acid, glucosinolates and cholesterol. Canola oil contains mega-3 contents useful for heart patients. Its benefits are closer to that of olive oil.
On the other hand, the traditional rapeseed/mustard meal has high levels of glucosinolates which can cause goiter and adversely affect growth and reproduction in animals if fed regularly. In view of the properties of canola, it has the potential to replace rapeseed and mustard. Even, the residual canola meal after oil extraction contains around 35-40 per cent of protein which is utilised as animal feed or fertiliser.
Canola is a large-leaf crop with rapid growth and early canopy closing and can grow in relatively harsh conditions. It grows successfully on rain-fed and canal-irrigated lands and hence can be grown throughout the country. It needs minimum three irrigations at the time of its sowing, flowering and seed formation.
By cultivating this crop, farmers can earn Rs40,000 - 50,000 per acre and also help meet edible oil requirements of the country.
Canola is also a good crop for rotation with cereals specially wheat and barley. Major agricultural area has been devoted to wheat and barley cultivation that doesn’t have proper rotation. So canola cultivation can be considered as a good choice which also has the potential to reduce the threats of weeds, pests and pathogens. Some weeds and pathogens in cereal crops are resistant to common herbicides; these problems can be relatively controlled through cereal-canola rotation.
After looking into performance of different varieties of canola under various levels of salinities it appears that Oscar and Rainbow are the best varieties for saline environment equivalent to 0.4 per cent seawater salinity.
With the support of the government, not only canola but also olive can be grown in Potohar region and areas in Balochistan like Khuzdar, Loralai, Quetta, Pishin, Zhob and Sibi etc. The weather conditions (high rain falls) in northern part of Punjab and Hazara and in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa have made these areas suitable for olive cultivation.
Despite large potentials, oiseed crops have suffered from different kinds of disincentives. Growers do not get adequate support price for oilseeds and their access to funds is very limited and in some cases it is completely restricted. Farmers also incur major losses due to improper market infrastructure.
The policymakers should develop a strategy to boost production of oilseed crops. The area which is found profitable for the cultivation of oilseed crops should be declared ‘Oilseed Zones’. Growers should be encouraged to use their land for oilseed cultivation and assured of good return on it.