Context: Recently, PM of India appealed to the farmers in North-East States to take up oil palm cultivation with an aim to make India self-sufficient in edible oils.
Issue

• India is heavily dependent on imported edible oils. With nearly 15 million tonnes (or nearly 68 per cent) of edible oils gets imported to meet the country’s annual requirements of about 22 million tonnes. 
• Of the total 15 million tonnes of imports, nearly 60 per cent or about 9 million tonnes is palm oils.
• Imports will continue to rise, going by the current Indian crop scenario.
• Palm oil imports constitute nearly 75 per cent of the total edible oil imports

Palm oil in India’s northeast

• India is pushing for palm cultivation in the north-eastern states of Assam, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh to increase production of oil, a commodity that costs the country millions in imports annually.
• While expanding oil palm in India’s northeast will serve the larger purpose of oil security, experts fear that organised plantations may harm biodiversity in the region.
• To reduce its import bill on edible oils, government of India is building capacity for local production.

About Palm Oil

• Palm Oil is an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of oil palm trees, having the scientific name  Elaeis guineensis. 
• Palm oil is an incredibly efficient crop, producing more oil per land area than any other equivalent vegetable oil crop fulfilling 35% of the world’s vegetable oil demand on just 10% of the land.
• Two types of oil can be produced, crude palm oil comes and palm kernel oil, of which crude has more demand.
• Palm oil is an extremely versatile oil that has many different properties and is present in nearly 50 per cent packaged.
• Currently, Indonesia and Malaysia make up over 85% of global supply but there are 42 other countries that also produce palm oil.

Advantages of Oil Palm Cultivation

• Oil palm yields highest edible oil among the other oil crops.
• Farmers can get extra income by intercropping in pre-bearing period of oil palms.
• There is no risk of theft and provides local employment.
• This crop assures monthly income and good market price throughout the year.
• Farmers can expect high returns which results in uplift of economic status.
• Palm oil substitutes import of edible oil by saving valuable foreign exchange.
• Palm is generally the cheapest commodity vegetable oil and also the cheapest oil to produce and refine globally.
• Pal oil is among the most productive and profitable of tropical crops for bio fuel production.

Ecology at stake

• Palm oil is a long-term monoculture crop, replacing shifting cultivation landscapes with oil palm will definitely be detrimental to biodiversity.
• Palm oil requires major chemical inputs, that will increase pollution, especially water pollution.
• Palm oil will destroy forests, and is likely to alter social structure and dynamics on tribal communities, enhancing socio-economic inequalities.

Social Impact

• Conflict can occur between communities and companies over rights to land.
• Displacement of rural farmers can lead them to move on to new areas of untouched forest to clear land for farming.
• Culturally important sites can often be lost due to the development of plantations.

Road Ahead

• Mapping and monitoring, supported by an appropriate regulatory framework are necessary to achieve sustainable management of oil palm production.
• Analysis of spatial data, including from remote sensing, is a key tool to improve monitoring of legal and sustainable plantations.
• Protect the tropical forests by designing new strategies that connect forest carbon and bio fuel markets in order to reduce GHG emissions, conserve biodiversity and promote economic growth.