| Popis: |
India is blessed with a number of agroclimatic zones, which are favorable for growing nine oilseed crops. These oilseed crops consist of seven edible oilseeds – groundnut, rapeseed mustard, soybean, sunflower, sesame, safflower, and niger – and two nonedible crops – castor and linseed. India is the largest producer of groundnut and rapeseed-mustard. As a matter of fact, oilseed constitutes the largest agricultural commodity after cereals, sharing 14% of the gross cropped area and accounting for nearly 5% of the gross national product and 10% of the value of all agricultural products. Furthermore, approximately 14 million people are engaged in the production of oilseed crops and another 1 million in the processing of these crops. Despite the fact that India holds the premier position in the world in respect of gross cropped area, its productivity is the lowest. In addition to this, India’s contribution to the world’s annual oilseed production is less than 10% and its per capita availability of oil is 9.2 kg against the world’s average of 11.0 kg, which constitutes 4.8 kg less than the recommended requirement of 14.0 kg as specified by India’s Council of Medical Research. The demand for edible oils is increasing due to India’s burgeoning population, which is now more than 1.25 billion. Demand is presently 13 million tons whereas production is barely around 7.5 million tons. To meet this requirement for edible oil, about 42.24 million tons of oilseed output is required. The productivity of oilseed will have to be increased to the world level, which is more than 1600 kg ha–1. To meet this challenge, new strategies are required to raise productivity sustainably. These strategies mainly comprise extending irrigation facilities, using important moisture conservation practices such as mulching, timely weed control, seed selection and proper seed rate, time and method of sowing, varietal selection and crop rotation, growing heat and drought-resistant varieties, integrated nutrient management using micronutrients, seed inoculation with Rhizobium culture, and integrated pest management and intercropping. |
