MK Agrotech, the owner of Sunpure edible oil, based in Karnataka, has partnered with the nonprofit WeCare Society to provide farmers with crop seeds such as groundnut and sunflower and later purchase their crops to address the edible oil crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
The campaign comes against the backdrop of anticipated shortages in edible oil supply. Given the current situation, edible oil prices increased by 50% in the first few days after the conflict began in the West, according to MK Agrotech in a media statement.
In fact, India is the world's second-largest producer of groundnuts, but our productivity is only a third or fourth that of China and the United States.
Prior to the introduction of Palm or Sunflower oil to South India, groundnut oil was the most commonly consumed oil in the region, according to the statement.
Domestic edible oil consumption is around 250 lakh tonnes, while domestic production is only 111.6 lakh tonnes. The gap between demand and supply of edible oils is approximately 56%, which is filled through imports.
Karnataka, with a production of 3.04 lakh tonnes from an area of 7.94 lakh hectares, is India's largest sunflower producing state, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu.
"How about returning to our roots by reducing imports?" This was a question that had been bothering us for quite some time. That is when we decided to launch Hosa Prapancha, an initiative that will help us take a step toward self-sufficiency in India and redefine the edible oil segment," said Gokharan Singh Pawar, General Manager of MK Agrotech.
The campaign was launched in Haveri, the hometown of chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, and the company stated that it intended to take it all the way across South India.
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