The Government is eyeing production of oilseeds under the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) activities. The Union Rural Development Ministry has recently asked the States to consider plantation of tree-borne oilseeds (TBO) like mahua, simarouba, kokum, olive, karanja, jatropha, neem, jojoba, cheura, wild apricot, walnut and tung among others under the rural job scheme with an aim to help increase oilseeds production in the country.

Currently, afforestation, tree plantation and horticulture in common and forests lands, road margins, canal bunds and coastal banks are works under the MNREGA guidelines. However, this is for the first time that the Rural Development Ministry has sought planting of specific tree species. The list of the eleven major TBOs have already been identified and recommended by the Union Agriculture Ministry early this year for plantation on wasteland degraded forest lands.

However, extending the plantation of TBOs under the rural job scheme too,  R Subrahmanyam, Joint Secretary (MNREGA) in a letter to the State Governments, said, “It is advised that the plantation and maintenance of these tree species may be taken up under the MNREGA process, looking at the suitability of the species to the selected areas and availability of forward linkages such as marketing of oil seeds…”

As the Government is focusing to increase production of traditional edible and non-edible oilseeds like jatropha that can be used as bio-diesel and reduce dependence on imports, plantation of such species under MNREGA can be a good source of income for the rural poor, he said.  India is among major oilseed growers and edible oil importers. India's vegetable oil economy is world's fourth largest after the USA, China and Brazil.

At present, oilseed accounts for 13 per cent of the gross cropped area, 3 per cent of the Gross National Product and 10 per cent value of all agricultural commodities. With per capita consumption of vegetable oils at the rate of 16 kg/year/person for a projected population of 1,276 million, the total vegetable oils demand is likely to touch 20.4 million tonnes by 2017, according to a Government report.