Oilseed Production in India: Statistics and Acreage

India is one of the world’s largest producers of oilseeds, yet it remains heavily dependent on edible oil imports. This contradiction sits at the heart of the country’s agricultural challenge. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, oilseeds account for 13% of India’s gross cropped area, 3% of the Gross National Product, and 10% of the total value of all agricultural commodities. Despite that scale, the country still imports more than half of its edible oil needs. Understanding where India stands in oilseed production – the area under cultivation, total output, state-wise contributions, and yield gaps – is essential for anyone studying food security, agricultural economics, or crop processing.

India’s position in global oilseed production
Area under oilseed cultivation: how much land does India dedicate?
Total production: trends and recent data
Major oilseed-producing states
Rajasthan
Madhya Pradesh
Gujarat
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and others
Yield statistics: the critical gap
The demand-supply imbalance and import dependency
Policy response: the National Mission on Edible Oils
What the statistics tell us – and what they don’t

India’s position in global oilseed production

India ranks fourth among the world’s largest oilseed-producing countries, behind the United States, China, and Brazil. The country holds approximately 20.8% of the total global area under oilseed cultivation, yet contributes only around 10% of global production. This gap between area share and production share reflects a persistent productivity problem that has been challenging Indian agriculture for decades.

India’s oilseed output for marketing year 2023/24 is estimated at 42.7 million metric tonnes (MMT), with the 2024/25 forecast at 41.9 MMT. Nine major oilseeds are cultivated across the country, with soybean, groundnut, and rapeseed-mustard collectively dominating both area and production. Among these, soybeans account for 42% of the total area under oilseed cultivation, followed by rapeseed and mustard at 24% and groundnut at 19%.

Area under oilseed cultivation: how much land does India dedicate?

Oilseeds occupy approximately 27.2 million hectares of India’s cultivated land, representing around 14% of the total cropped area. This makes it the second most important crop group after cereals in terms of area coverage. Oilseeds are cultivated in both the kharif (summer-monsoon) and rabi (winter) seasons, which allows the sector to contribute year-round to farm incomes.

Kharif oilseeds – including groundnut, soybean, sunflower, sesame, and castor – are sown between June and July and harvested by October. Rabi oilseeds – primarily rapeseed and mustard, as well as linseed – are cultivated from October to March. Groundnut is India’s most important kharif oilseed, accounting for approximately half of the major oilseeds grown in the country.

Despite the large area under cultivation, a significant constraint is irrigation coverage. Only about one-fourth of the oilseed-producing area is under irrigation, with the remaining area depending on rain-fed conditions. This heavy dependence on monsoon rains creates year-to-year volatility in output and keeps productivity well below potential.

Total production: trends and recent data

India’s oilseed production has grown substantially over the past seven decades. From a modest 5.26 million metric tonnes in 1949-50, production climbed to over 32 MMT by 2016-17. The sector continued its upward trajectory in subsequent years, and India’s oilseed production reached a new high of 42.609 million tonnes as of 2024-25.

In financial year 2024, rapeseed and mustard was the highest-produced oilseed, with over 13 million metric tonnes recorded, narrowly ahead of soybean. Groundnut came in third. Together, these three crops form the backbone of India’s oilseed economy, contributing over 85% of total output.

India ranks first globally in the production of castor, safflower, sesame, and niger seed, and second in groundnut production. These niche rankings are often overlooked in discussions that focus only on the broader oilseed basket.

Major oilseed-producing states

Oilseed cultivation in India is geographically concentrated. A handful of states account for the bulk of both area and production, creating strong regional dependencies in the sector.

Rajasthan

Rajasthan recorded the highest oilseed production of over 9.2 million metric tonnes in fiscal year 2023, placing it at the top of all Indian states. The state is the country’s largest producer of rapeseed and mustard, with Rajasthan alone contributing nearly 48% of India’s total rapeseed and mustard output. This dominance is driven by the suitability of its arid and semi-arid soils for rabi oilseed cultivation.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under oilseed cultivation at 7,470 thousand hectares, even though it ranks third in total production. The state is India’s leading soybean producer, holding a 44% share in India’s total soybean output. Soybean dominates the kharif season in Madhya Pradesh and is central to the state’s agricultural economy.

Gujarat

Gujarat ranks among the top three oilseed-producing states and is the country’s leading groundnut producer. Together, Rajasthan (21%), Gujarat (20%), Madhya Pradesh (19%), and Maharashtra (16%) account for approximately 75% of India’s total oilseed production. Gujarat is also the largest producer of castor seed, which is a major industrial and export commodity.

Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and others

Maharashtra is a significant soybean producer and ranks second overall in state-wise oilseed output. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are important groundnut-growing states, while Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal are leading contributors to rapeseed and mustard production. Karnataka holds the distinction of being the largest producer of sunflower in the country.

Yield statistics: the critical gap

While India’s total production figures appear sizeable, the yield per hectare tells a different story. India’s oilseed yield was estimated at approximately 1,316 kg per hectare in financial year 2024. This figure, while an improvement over historical lows, remains far below the world average and the yields achieved by leading oilseed-producing nations.

There is a yield gap of roughly 900 kg per hectare between India’s oilseed brassica productivity and the global average, which stands around 2,047 kg per hectare. In comparative terms, India’s soybean yield is 2.1 tonnes per hectare below Argentina’s, and its groundnut yield is 3 tonnes per hectare below that of the United States.

Several structural factors explain this persistent underperformance. Defective agronomic practices and high incidence of both abiotic and biotic stress are among the primary reasons for the low overall productivity of oilseeds in India. Additionally, most oilseed crops are grown on marginal, rainfed lands with limited access to quality seeds, fertilizers, and modern crop management techniques.

The domestic demand for vegetable oils has been rising at roughly 6% per year, while domestic output has grown at only about 2% annually. This widening gap has made India the world’s largest edible oil importer, spending enormous foreign exchange on imports that a stronger domestic oilseed sector could potentially reduce.

The demand-supply imbalance and import dependency

India is heavily reliant on imports, which currently account for 57% of its domestic demand for edible oils. Edible oils are India’s third-largest import commodity after crude oil and gold. Palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, soybean oil from Brazil and Argentina, and sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine collectively fill the gap that domestic production cannot cover.

India’s total consumption of edible oils has risen significantly – growing from 9.7 million tonnes in 2000-01, while domestic production increased at a slower pace. Without a concerted push to improve oilseed yields, this import dependency is set to deepen as the population grows and per capita consumption continues to rise.

Policy response: the National Mission on Edible Oils

Recognising the urgency of the situation, the Government of India has launched an ambitious policy intervention. The National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds) was approved for a seven-year period from 2024-25 to 2030-31, with a financial outlay of ₹10,103 crore. The mission targets an increase in primary oilseed production from 39 million tonnes (2022-23) to 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31.

The NMEO-Oilseeds also targets expanding area coverage from 29 million hectares to 33 million hectares, and raising average yield from 1,353 kg per hectare to 2,112 kg per hectare by 2030-31. Complementing this is the NMEO-OP (Oil Palm) component, which aims to bring 6.5 lakh hectares under oil palm cultivation and increase crude palm oil production to 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30.

The mission focuses on cluster-based interventions, improved seed systems, higher seed replacement rates, and adoption of high-yielding varieties. Over 432 high-yielding varieties and hybrids of nine annual oilseeds have been notified for commercial cultivation during the 11-year period from 2014 to 2025, signalling the scale of the effort to modernise India’s oilseed seed systems.

What the statistics tell us – and what they don’t

The numbers paint a clear picture: India has scale but lacks efficiency. The country commands a significant share of global oilseed area but converts it into a much smaller share of global production. The major producing states – Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh – demonstrate that geography and crop suitability matter enormously. Rajasthan’s mustard belt, Madhya Pradesh’s soybean corridor, and Gujarat’s groundnut farms are not just production zones; they are the foundation of India’s edible oil supply chain.

Yet the persistent yield gap – whether measured against global averages or against leading nations like Germany, France, or the United States – underscores that technical and agronomic improvements remain the most critical lever for change. Expanding area alone will not solve the problem. Improving yield per hectare through better seeds, irrigation, and crop management is where the real potential lies. The NMEO framework, if implemented effectively, has the potential to close this gap significantly over the next decade.

What do you think? Given that India already holds nearly 21% of the world’s oilseed-cultivated area but produces only about 10% of global output, which factor do you think poses a bigger barrier to closing the yield gap – inadequate irrigation infrastructure or limited adoption of high-yielding seed varieties? And with states like Madhya Pradesh leading in area but not in per-hectare productivity, what role should state-level policy play alongside central government missions like NMEO?

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Table of Contents

India’s position in global oilseed production 🔗

Area under oilseed cultivation: how much land does India dedicate? 🔗

Total production: trends and recent data 🔗

Major oilseed-producing states 🔗

Rajasthan 🔗

Madhya Pradesh 🔗

Gujarat 🔗

Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and others 🔗

Yield statistics: the critical gap 🔗

The demand-supply imbalance and import dependency 🔗

Policy response: the National Mission on Edible Oils 🔗

What the statistics tell us – and what they don’t 🔗