Oilseed

The oil crops of Pakistan are many. Most of these are cultivated on small acreage. Rapeseed-mustard, sesame, linseed and castor are grown in this region since immemorial and are called traditional crops. Sunflower, soybean, safflower are called non-traditional. In addition, three oil bearing trees also maintain their presence in some agro-ecological niches. Coconut and oil palm are the latest entries to this group.

One of the challenges be setting the economy of Pakistan is the edible oil deficit. Its indigenous production is below the consumption levels with a very wide gap between production and consumption. This gap is bridged through import of edible oil worth more than Rs. 45.0 billion annually. Presently the oilseed production only met about 25% of the requirements. After cotton which contributes more than 60% of the domestic production, rapeseed-mustard is the second important crop contributing more than 17% to domestic oilseed production.

Domestic edible oil production from all sources has grown at the rate of 2.56% annually over the last about three decades, whereas consumption is increasing at an annual rate of 7.7%. The indigenous edible oil production could not match the growing demand of population. The graph of population and urbanization could not match the rising, outstretching the divergence between demand and domestic production. The rapid expansion of domestic oilseed production has been the major concern for decision makers because of mounting import bill.

EDIBLE OIL AVAILABILITY IN THE COUNTRY
Domestic production of edible oil has been fluctuating for the last couple of decades. These fluctuations are due to indigenous marketing, low support price and high cost of production which is making these crops non-profitable to the farmers. Only sunflower has shown some positive results in area and production compared to other oil crops.

In domestic production, major share comes from cottonseed contributing 75% of local production. Rapeseed, mustard and canola contribute 15%, whereas sunflower, soybean, safflower and corn contribute the remaining 10%. Domestic production of edible oil during 1991-92 was 0.486 million tons which substantially increased to 0.646 million tons during 2000-2001 due to canola and sunflower plantation on a considerable area. Sunflower and canola are the two potential crops, which can fulfill some requirements of edible oil in the country. A comparison of the domestic production, import of edible oil and cost of import is given below:

Use of Different Pre and Post-emergence Herbicides
The use of herbicides, both in pre. and post-emergence application manner, has been gaining popularity due to a number of reasons in the recent years. With time and changing cropping patterns, different brands of herbicides are introduced and used for the control of weeds in different crop commodities. In our present investigation, experiments are being conducted to control weeds by using different new brands of herbicides and optimizing its concentrations. The following s investigations were done in oilseed crops.

To assess the performance of different oilseed crops, the traveling seminars to the oilseed growing areas has become a regular feature of the program. For this purpose, traveling seminars are being arranged on different oilseed crops during its growing period. The objectives of seminars are:

To determine the recent trends of the crop in the potential growing areas.
To study production practices of growers and evaluate the potentials of the crop.
To know the farmers perception about the constraints for increasing area and average yield and get first hand information about the real problems of the crops by visiting the crop on farmer's fields and to document farmers views for the improvement.

To assess jointly research programs of Institutes and private seed industry and formulation of recommendations for the improvement in research and promotion of the crop.
To assess various problems of crop, viz., insects, diseases, weeds, soil, farm machinery and marketing of farmer's produce.
To evaluate the performance of the crops in National uniform Yield Trial planted at various locations.
To bring together scientists working on sunflower from four provinces, officials of Pakistan Oilseeds Development Board, Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, private seed companies and solvent extraction on one platform to study the problems of crop production, promotion, availability of quality seed in the country marketing of the produce, oil extraction and by-product utilization.

A traveling seminar on sunflower was organized by the Oilseeds Research Program, NARC, Islamabad. The seminar was, arranged in two phases, i.e., in Sindh it was started from April 17 to 20, 2006, whereas, in Punjab from May 08 to 13, 2006.

The participants from following public and private sectors participated in the seminar.

The comprised of plant breeders, agronomists, entomologists, plant pathologists, Soil Scientists, Agri. Engineers and economists from public and private sectors.

PHASE-I (Sindh): In Sindh, the participants visited the ARI, TandoJam, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allah Yar, Mir Pur Khas, Umar Kot, and Kunri areas. The crop planted in districts Badin and Golarchi was also visited. The participants after hectic efforts, visited a total of 151 locations with standing crop at different growth stages

UPCOMING/ CURRENT ACTIVITIES

Traveling Seminar on Sunflower

Phase-I (Sindh) April 16-20, 2007
Phase-II (Punjab) May 13-18, 2007

The Oilseeds Research Programme, NARC Islamabad is organizing a traveling seminar on sunflower. Scientists from NARC and Provincial Research Institutes working in different disciplines of sunflower will be the participants of the traveling seminar. Moreover, representatives of private seed companies and farmers will also participate in the seminar. The traveling seminar has been planned with the following objectives:

i) To evaluate the potential of sunflower crop in Sindh.
ii) To have first hand information about the real problems of production faced by the farmers.
iii) To assess the disease and pest problems of the crop on farmers field.
iv) To bring together scientists of sunflower from all provinces and private seed companies on one platform to study the

problems of production and marketing of oilseeds in general and sunflower in particular.

Participants in Phase-I (Sindh)
Dr. Naazar Ali, CSO/Coordinator, Oilseeds, NARC
Dr. Muhammad Arshad, Sunflower Breeder, NARC
Dr. Muhammad Amjad, SSO/Entomologist, NARC
PI, Oilseed Cooperative Unit, AARI, Faisalabad
Asstt. Pathologist, ORI, Faisalabad
Oilseed Botanist, ARI, Sariab, Quetta
Oilseed Botanist, ARI, D.I.Khan

Local Participants in Respective Areas
Oilseed Botanist, ARI, Tandojam
ARO, Oilseed Research Station, Golarchi
Regional Manager (PODB), Hyderabad & Thatta
Representative of FSC&RD, Hyderabad
Representative of Monsanto Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad
Representative of ICI Pakistan, Hyderabad
Representative of Poineer Seed Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad
Representative of Syngenta Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad
Global Commodities, Karachi
Raj by International, Karachi
The Seed Company, Karachi
Dagha Corporation, Karachi

Participants in Phase-II (Punjab)
Dr. Naazar Ali, CSO/Coordinator Oilseeds, NARC
Dr. Akbar S. Mohmand, PSO (Oilseeds) NARC
Dr. Mihammad Amjad, SSO/Entomologist, NARC
Mr. M. Ayub Khan, Sunflower Breeder, NARC
Mr. Shahzad Asad, SSO (CDRP), NARC
Oilseed Botanist, ARI, Tandojam
Oilseed Botanist, ARI, D.I.Khan
Oilseed Botanist, ARI, Sariab, Quetta

Local Participants in respective areas
Sunflower Botanist, ORI, Faisalabad
Asstt. Botanist, RARI, Bahawalpur
Senior Scientific Officer, AZRI, Bahawalpur
Regional Manager (PODB), Multan,Sahiwal, & Lahore
Representative of FSC&RD, Multan,Sahiwal,& Lahore
Representative of Monsanto Pvt. Ltd, Lahore
Representative of ICI Pakistan, Lahore
Representative of Pioneer Seed Pvt Ltd, Sahiwal
Representative of Syngenta Pvt. Ltd.
BARI Traders, Lahore
Hamad & Co., Sahiwal
Trade Channels, Lahore
Green Technologies, Daska, Sialkot
Rachna Agri. Business, Gujranwala
Agri. Farm Services, Multan
Ali Akbar Group, Lahore
Sethi Seed Corporation.

Area to be Visited (Phase-I)
v Get together at Hyderabad,
v Visit of sunflower crop planted in Hyderabad and Nawabshah area
v Visit NUYT at ARI, Tandojam and crop on farmers field in Tando Allah Yar, Mirpur Khas and Umar Kot
v Visit of sunflower crop planted on farmers field in Golarchi, Badin and Thatta
v Concluding session at PODB office, Hyderabad and travel back to Islamabad

Area to be Visited (Phase-II)
v Travel from Islamabad to Bahawalpur and Get together at Bahawalpur
v Visit of NUYT planted at AZRI and RARI Bahawalpur and sunflower crop on farmers field in Bahawalpur and Lodhran
v Visit of sunflower crop planted on farmers field in Mailsi, Kahrore Pakka, Tibba Sultanpur and Vehari
v Visit of NUYT on sunflower planted at private seed companies' Farms, ICI Multan, Pioneer Seed Farm Sahiwal, Syngentha Research Farm Sahiwal, Monsanto Research Farm Manga Mandi, Ali Akbar Research Farm, Raiwind Lahore.
v Visit of sunflower crop planted on farmers field in Sheikhupura (rice area) and oilseed experiments at ORI, Faisalabad and travel back to Islamabad.
v Visit of oilseed experiments at NARC and concluding session of seminar at 10.00 A.M.
v Adjourn 12.00

Year	Domestic Production (000 tons)	Import (000 tons)	Value of import (Rs. Billion)
1999-00	607	1091	21.4
2000-01	642	1149	19.04
2001-02	646	1197	24.03
2002-03	665	1281	39.29
2003-04	678	1361	37.91
2004-05	842	1605	44.98