Topic: Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, – different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints.
4. National Mission on Edible Oils and Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) may be a step towards “atmanirbharta” in palm oil production but its fraught with economic and ecological concerns which need to be addressed. Analyse. (250 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India
Why the question:
The “excessive dependence” on imports has raised the pitch for “atmanirbharta” in edible oil. The Prime Minister launched the National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NEOM-OP) in 2021.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the potential drawbacks of the National Mission on Edible Oils and Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) with respect to overzealous push on cultivation of oil palm.
Directive word:
Critically analyse – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Write about National Mission on Edible Oils and Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), its aims and objectives.
Body:
Mention the recent push by the government towards cultivation of palm in India. The areas chosen for its cultivation.
Next, mention benefits India will accrue from achieving self-reliance in palm oil.
Write about potential pitfalls and negative outcome of this mission with respect to Oil palm. Deforestation, damaging effects on the environment and human rights violation etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward.
