Consider the following statements: India continues to be dependent on imports to meet the requirement of oilseeds in the country because: 1. Farmers prefer to grow food grains with highly remunerative support prices. 2. Most of the cultivation of oilseed

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Q: 78 (IAS/2004)
Consider the following statements: India continues to be dependent on imports to meet the requirement of oilseeds in the country because:
1. Farmers prefer to grow food grains with highly remunerative support prices.
2. Most of the cultivation of oilseed crops continues to be dependent on rainfall.
3. Oils from the seeds of tree origin and rice bran have remained unexploited.
4. It is far cheaper to import oilseeds than to cultivate the oilseed crops.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

question_subject: 

Economics

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,46,43,21,46,5,17

keywords: 

{'oilseed crops': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'oilseeds': [3, 0, 4, 2], 'cultivation': [2, 1, 1, 0], 'oils': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'imports': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'farmers': [1, 3, 8, 26], 'seeds': [3, 0, 2, 2], 'food grains': [0, 0, 0, 2], 'india': [8, 1, 7, 13]}

The correct answer is option 2 which implies that statements 1, 2 and 3 are correct.

Statement 1 is correct because farmers indeed prefer to grow food grains with highly remunerative support prices rather than oilseeds. This encourages the importation of oilseeds due to local scarcity.

Statement 2 is also accurate as the majority of oilseed cultivation in India relies heavily on rainfall. Inconsistent rainfall or any other weather challenges directly affect the yield.

Statement 3 is right to imply that oils from tree-origin seeds and rice bran remain largely unexploited. They could offer potential alternatives to imported oilseeds but are not adequately utilized.

However, Statement 4 is incorrect. It is not necessarily cheaper to import oilseeds than to cultivate them locally. Many factors come into play, including import tariffs, transportation and storage costs, exchange rates, and international market prices, which can make importing more expensive.