By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has prepared a strategic plan to reduce its dependence on imported edible oil and achieve 70% self-sufficiency by 2035 through expanded local oilseed production and olive cultivation.
According to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research’s Year Book 2024-25, the Pakistan Oilseed Department has prepared a Strategic Development Plan to meet 70% of the country’s edible oil requirement through domestic production by 2035.
The plan aims to raise annual edible oil production and import substitution to more than 4.578 million tonnes by 2035. In monetary terms, this could provide import substitution of $7.017 billion per year.
Pakistan remains heavily dependent on imported edible oil. During FY2024-25, the country imported 4.169 million tonnes of edible oil, including 0.542 million tonnes extracted from imported oilseeds. The imports were valued at Rs1,407 billion, or $4.971 billion.
In comparison, local edible oil production stood at 0.474 million tonnes during FY2024-25. Total edible oil availability from imports and local production reached 4.643 million tonnes. The Year Book said two major projects are in progress to support the sector. These include the National Oilseed Enhancement Programme and Promotion of Olive Cultivation on Commercial Scale in Pakistan Phase-II.
Under the long-term plan, oilseed area is targeted to increase from a baseline of 1.240 million hectares to 4.600 million hectares by 2035. The plan also envisages 1,000 mini expellers and 1,500 farm machines by 2035 to support oilseed processing and production.
The Pakistan Oilseed Department also carried out awareness campaigns for sunflower, canola and olive cultivation at different locations. It worked with provincial governments to promote oilseed crops and oil-yielding plants as part of import substitution efforts.
The olive sector is also gaining importance under the broader edible oil strategy. During FY2024-25, different project components planted 822,452 olive cuttings for propagation of true-to-type and disease-free olive nursery plants. In Balochistan, the Balochistan Agricultural Research and Development Centre component planted 108,859 olive plants in different districts with a 33% cost share from farmers. It also installed drip irrigation systems on 737 acres in different districts of the province.
The Year Book said 45 training programmes were conducted on olive cultivation, orchard and nursery management, value addition, oil processing and other aspects of the olive value chain. A total of 2,684 participants, including youth and women, attended these training programmes.
The Year Book also noted progress on international cooperation. A TEVET Umbrella Project on professional capacity-building and extension in agriculture, costing €20 million, has been approved by the Central Development Working Party. The project focuses on technical training and infrastructure development in olives and other fruit crops.
