Hope for drop in import reliance as mustard production surges to 40%

The production of mustard seeds, the key source of locally-processed edible oil, has registered a record of 11.611 lakh tonnes this year (FY23), up nearly 40% from 8.24 lakh tonnes in the previous year, the Department of Agricultural Extension said as the countrywide mustard harvesting came to an end.

The development came at a time when the government has been campaigning for increasing oilseeds production to prevent further shortages of edible oil amid global uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The local edible oil market saw unrest over the last two years with frequent fluctuations in prices to become more than double as the key edible oil suppliers – Indonesia, Ukraine, Russia and others – halted exports for the time being.

The subsequent supply crunch of edible oil in the market, price hikes and government promotion encouraged farmers to increase mustard cultivation, sector insiders said.

They cultivated mustard seeds on 8.12 lakh hectares of land this year against the government target of 6.7 lakh hectares, according to data from the agriculture department.

"We want to take mustard seeds production to a level where we can substantially reduce dependence on imports in phases," Badal Chandra Biswas, director general of the Department of Agricultural Extension, told The Business Standard.

He hoped that the mustard cultivating land will increase to 13-14 lakh hectares within the next two years and that of other oilseeds will also increase.

Agriculture ministry officials said the government plans to meet 40% of the demand for edible oil from local production within the next three years. To this end, it gives priority to mustard, followed by sunflowers, soybeans, and peanuts.

Currently, mustard is widely cultivated throughout the country, while other oilseed productions are very limited but increasing fast.

It is possible to double mustard production and take it to 24 lakh tonnes per year by FY25, government officials believe.

Experts said that the production of mustard can be increased faster than sunflowers and soybeans as it can be farmed between the gaps of paddy cultivation seasons, particularly after aman.

Crops such as onions, potatoes and others are now being cultivated in the intervals. Mustard can even be grown before these crops if the life span of aman paddy can be reduced further, researchers said.

"We have invented short life-span varieties [Bina-16 and Bina-17] of aman paddy so that farmers can grow other crops before the next boro season. An increased production of mustard is possible if farmers choose the new varieties of paddy," Mirza Mofazzal Islam, director general at the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture, told TBS.

Currently, Bina-16 and Bina-19 varieties are 22% among the paddy cultivated in the aman season and there is scope to further increase the cultivation of the variety, he added, saying that high-yielding mustard is also a must for achieving targets.  "Existing varieties of mustard yield 1.429 tonnes of seeds per hectare on average."

According to commerce ministry data, demand for edible oil is around 20 lakh tonnes, with 90% coming from imports and the rest 10% from local production. Soybean and palm oil dominate the imports and mustard dominates local productions.

In the calculation that 5-6 kg of seeds are needed for processing a litre of mustard oil, 11.61 tonnes (this year's production) of seeds can produce some 2 lakh tonnes of mustard oil.

Demand for mustard oil on the rise

Just two years ago, city shops used to display small-sized bottles of mustard oil from different brands such as Square, ACI and Pran. The situation is now completely different, with almost every grocery store selling brand and non-brand mustard oil in large bottles.

Shopkeepers say sales of mustard oil have increased manifold, which is why they were prompted to source oil from marginal entrepreneurs.

"Many people are now preferring mustard oil over other oils for various reasons, which has encouraged us to depend on non-brand but trusted suppliers," said Mizanur Rahman, a grocery shop owner in the capital's Badda area.

Several retailers in other areas of the capital expressed similar views. They mostly attributed reduced price gaps between mustard oil and others to the sudden surge in demand.  The health benefits of mustard oil are also considered reasons behind the demand growth, retailers added.

The most consumed soybean oil price has been on a rapid hike since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war. The price of a tonne of soybean oil jumped to $1,800 from $700-800 over the past two years, as a consequence. In contrast, the price of mustard oil did not hike so much.

Many people, particularly in the urban areas, are now considering mustard oil in cooking any items while it was only used in making mashed potatoes and other bharta items.

"We used mustard oil during our childhood in the village. But when we came to the city we chose soybean oil because of its cheaper price. As the soybean price has now gone beyond affordability, we have reduced its consumption," said Obaidul Islam, a resident in the capital's Mirpur.

"Instead, we increased mustard oil consumption. Although its price is higher than soybean, it can be used in lower amounts. Moreover, it has lower harm and higher benefits for health," he told TBS. ***