E-choupal Revolution

Last year, the poor oilseeds output compelled the import of 51.14 lakh tonnes of edible oils. Massive imports reflect the fragility of the oilseeds economy and lack of an integrated approach. This dependence on imports should end as the country can grow enough oilseeds. Now the introduction of e-choupals — village square gatherings to share information — made possible by the Internet will, hopefully, change the face of Indian agriculture. In villages in Madhya Pradesh, farmers decide on selling or holding soyabeans on the basis of prices of commodity futures on the Chicago Board of Trade. The Internet revolution seeping through Indian villages will, hopefully, extend to all crops in a matter of time and connect Indian farmers to global agriculture as never before. This will mean two things: Improvement in productivity and a gradual weakening of the hold of middlemen on farmers. As yet there are only 3,000 e-choupals in 18,000 villages that serve about 1.8 million farmers. It is a different story that in the past the Technology Mission on Oilseeds did not go far. That was due to the nature of cultivation, poor yields per hectare and lack of technological breakthroughs. The e-choupals should address these areas.

The 2003-04 season is expected to close with a bumper crop of 235-240 lakh tonnes of oilseeds, which may somewhat ease pressure on edible oil prices. The normal yearly output is around 210-220 lakh tonnes. Acreage under oilseeds cultivation in the rabi season is also expected to be higher by 37 per cent at 71 lakh hectare because of good minimum support prices. Yet, the 2002-03 oilseeds output at 158 lakh tonnes was down sharply from 248 lakh tonnes achieved in 1998-99. The structure of edible oil imports has changed in the year to reflect the changing price matrix. For example, the import of soyabean oils declined to 11.67 lakh tonnes but that of sunflower oil rose to 94,600 tonnes. Palm oil imports have gone up by 30 per cent to 38.09 lakh tonnes in 2002-03 and their share of total edible oil imports has risen to 74 per cent in 2002-03. Malaysian crude palm oil futures have risen in anticipation of the growing demand from India. Yet, the rise may not last for long in view of higher supplies consequent on the good output of oilseeds in the current season.