Govt. of India has launched Mission for Atmanirbharta in Pulses and Oilseeds: MoS Thakur in Rajya Sabha
New Delhi: The Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur informed the Members Friday, in the Upper House about the Government of India’s endeavours to increase production of oilseedds and pulses in the country. He submitted that the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds (NMEO-OS) was approved on 3rd October, 2024 to boost domestic oilseed production and to strive tow
ards self-reliance in edible oils. The mission aims to increase primary oilseed production from 39 million tonnes (2022-23) to 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31. The Government launched the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses on 11th October, 2025 to increase the domestic production of pulses. The mission aims to increase pulses production from 242 lakh tonnes to 350 lakh tonnes by 2030-31.
The ministry informed that the Mission is implemented through a cluster-based approach with market linkages. Over 600 Value Chain Clusters have been operationalized across the country which are managed by Value Chain Partners such as Farmer Producer Organizations, cooperatives and other agencies. Under these clusters, farmers are provided free high-quality seeds of latest high yielding varieties and training on good agricultural practices. The mission supports the establishment and upgradation of post-harvest infrastructure (oil mills) to improve oil recovery from primary and secondary sources. The mission focuses on improving the productivity through Frontline Demonstrations, Cluster Frontline Demonstrations and Block-Level Demonstrations to help farmers to adopt latest high yielding varieties and good agricultural practices. The mission strengthens availability of certified seeds through 100% support for purchase of breeder seeds, establishment of new seed hubs and specialised seed storage units in the public sector to enhance production and storage capacity. Procurement of oilseeds from farmers also ensured at Minimum Support Price (MSP) through Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan.
Under the mission, 13.52 lakh hectares were covered under free seed distribution in Value Chain Clusters during 2025-26 and 4.44 lakh hectare area covered so far during kharif, 2026. 60 Seed Hubs & 50 specialized seed storage units have been sanctioned for production of Breeder Seeds of recently released varieties. Oilseeds production has increased from 413. 55 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 to 430.59 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 (3rd Advance Estimate, DA&FW).
As reported by the Directorate of Sugar and Vegetable Oils, Department of Food and Public Distribution, the domestic availability of edible oils increased from 124.23 lakh tonnes in 2022–23 to 126.30 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 and edible oil imports declined from 165.00 lakh tonnes in 2022–23 to 160.72 lakh tonnes in 2024–25.
Under the Pulses Mission, assistance is provided to pulses farmers through State Governments/UTs on various interventions such as seed production, distribution of certified seeds of high yielding & climate resilient varieties and demonstration of latest crop production technologies, capacity building, seed kit distribution and strengthening post-harvest infrastructure. To ensure remunerative prices to farmers, the Mission supports assured procurement of Tur, Urad, Masoor from registered and willing farmers by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India under Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan based on requisitions made by the States.
During 2025-26, under the mission 4.79 lakh hectare, demonstrations were conducted on latest crop production & protection technologies, 4.33 lakh Quintals of quality seeds were produced, 3.10 lakh Qtls of certified seeds were distributed and 9.25 lakh seedkits were distributed free of cost to the farmers. The production of pulses has increased from 242.46 lakh tonnes during 2023-24 to 274.09 lakh tonnes during 2025-26 (3rd Advance estimate). Pulse imports declined from 72.56 lakh tonnes in 2024–25 to 59.64 lakh tonnes in 2025–26, reflecting improved domestic availability.
