Oil Seeds in India during WTO Regime: Development, Mission, and Global Trade Policies

Globally, the oilseed production has continued to increase. The boost in the demand for protein has
been the major driver for increase in the production of oilseeds. India is amongst the largest producer
and consumer of vegetable oils in the World. The increasing importance of oilseeds production calls
for the need to have a thorough research in the area. Domestic policies influence the level of
production and price. This directly affects the trade related aspects of the economy influencing the
exports and imports to the extent that economic precision becomes a part of such policies. The study
is based on analyzing the domestic as well as global policies that affect the production and
consumption pattern of oilseeds in an economy. The methodology employed is the estimation of
CAGR, Instability Index, Export import price elasticity of oilseeds and terms of trade which helped in
the analysis of policies, schemes and missions and their effect on the overall economy. The study
period is 1990-91 to 2017-18. Although the consumption of palm oil has increased to 45% but the
production growth rate is still higher for Soybean. The results show that Soybean has the highest
CAGR. Groundnut and Niger Seeds have higher terms of trade. The terms of trade of India’s oilseeds
were found to have increased for all oilseeds except mustard crop. During the period 1990-91 to
2015-16, the export import price elasticity’s of all oilseeds were found to be positive except imports
price elasticity of soybean (-0.45%) crop. The study found that the exports price elasticity of Soybean,
Mustard, Safflower, Sesamum and Sunflower were found to be marginally higher than compared to
imports giving a comparative advantage in to India in this regard. Various missions and policies on the
part of the Government have helped in increasing the production and hence the exports. Policies such
as National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil palm, to increase the consumption of oilseeds, initiation of
Integrated Policy on Oilseeds (IPO) and the consequent Market Intervention Operation (MIO) which
has formed in itself the most effective intervention in the sector have helped in escalating the
production as well as demand. These findings have important implications and significance for policy
and development related research. These observations can help in remodeling the policies which can
accompany the changing policies under WTO.