Oil Seeds

Conditions  of Growth	Tropic climate is ideal for the growth of oil seeds. Rainfall is essential all through the growth of the plant. Sandy or loamy soil is best suited for the growth of these oil seeds.  This kind of soil is found in a variety of places in India.
Regions	The most important states of oil seeds production include Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
Additional Info	Since India is the second largest consumer of the oils derived from the oil seeds, there is a huge import in spite of the cultivation of these seeds
Production/ Trade	As the consumer needs are continuing to rise, even if the production goes higher up, we will only end up reducing our imports marginally

There are a group of oilseeds that are grown in India for the purposes of extracting oil from them. India is a big vegetable oil consumer and with the rising consumer base, there is a continuous increase in the requirement of these oil seeds. The seeds that fall into this category include groundnuts, soybeans, mustard, rapeseed, mustard, sesamum, linseed, safflower, sunflower and Niger. Each of these oil seeds is different in their botanical characteristics and there are huge amounts of these seeds required to extract the oil that this needed for the everyday consumers.

Oilseed Production in India

Most of the oil seed crops need continuous water all through their growth and cannot withstand long durations of heat or cold. Therefore, the key essentials of oilseed cultivation is the time that the seeds are sown in such a way that the crop would continue to get continuous rainfall or irrigation thereby ensuring good crops with quality seeds.

Methods of Growing Oilseeds

Since the quality of oil seeds are very important, the soil has to be first prepared well. For example, for seeds like groundnut or sesame would require high loamy soil, so depending on the seed that is being cultivated, soil has to be first set right. The seeds have to be sown in the right ratio as mentioned by the authorities. Sowing less or more might disturb the yield. As the seeds are being used for human consumption, care has to be taken to ensure that too much of chemical pesticides are not being sprayed. The seeds should also be free from any kind of diseases, as this will then result in the crops also being affected by the same disease and so care has to be taken to use the highest quality of seeds. This will also affect the quality of the oil that is being produced.

The other important thing to be taken care of during the cultivation of these oil seeds is that the crops need an ideal climate to thrive in. So, the ideal time should be chosen for sowing the seeds. Some farmers also tend to mix the oil seed crops with other pulse crops and in those cases, the yield will also accordingly come down. Most of the crops are grown all through the year in various seasons, summer, spring and autumn. Weeding is also an important aspect of the cultivation of oil crops as these crops tend to have a lot of weeds in them which can come in the way during the time of harvests. Therefore, the farmers have to invest in continuous weeding.

Oil seeds Growing States in India and the Best Season to Grow

Oil seeds are cultivated in the states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in India.  The other states that see some scattered oil seeds cultivation include Rajasthan, Orissa, and Madhya Pradesh. Though the states of India contribute to a good yield, the production is still not enough for the consumers in India and therefore we are in the need to import palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia. Therefore, constant efforts are being taken to increase the area of the cultivation of oil seeds which will directly lead to the increase in the yield thereby taking up the total oil production of India.

When the crops are planned around the natural rainfall, then the crop is grown between the periods of May and June, but again if the monsoon is delayed, then this gets pushed to August or even September.  In states or seasons where the crops are grown based on the irrigational plans, then the period is from January to March or from May to July.

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