The immediate step being suggested to the authorities by the traders is to double the customs duty on imported oils from 15 per cent to 30 per cent if the trade in the country is to be saved from further ruination. According to Nirmal Kothari of Kothari Global, a leading trading house which specialises in the import of edible oils, the future was indeed bleak.

Talking to The Financial Express, Kothari said that the crash in the international market was something the traders could not have thought of. One chief reason for the crash was the increase in the overall production of palm oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil among others. Andcorrespondingly the demand had not picked up.

Kothari was frank enough to admit that the importers of edible oils need to be very alert to the uncertain market and if the corrective steps were not taken, the losses could be much more. In fact, a situation had arisen that even the contracted oils had not been lifted with heavy penalties having been imposed, said Kothari.

The new mustard crop had begun to hit the mandies and there were only a few takers. The overall crop production was expected to be put at around 60 lakh tonnes, said Kothari, who has a considerable knowledge about the trade. ``We keep a close touch with the international market and the emerging situation is indeed frightening,'' he said.

The situation had become so bad that some of the leading farmers had preferred to sit over their production in the hope that they may get a better price after sometime. The fear among the farmers was that the low prices may lend them to a situation that they might even prefer to take other crops in thenext session.

Talking about the soyabean oil Kothari said that it was available at around Rs 9,000 per tone. During November-December last year and the ruling price now was around Rs 8,200 per tonne.

Soyabean is the world's largest consumed oil with India's position in the production was at number five. ``We are second in Asia after China,'' says Kothari.

The soyabean crop in Rajasthan was introduced during the Sixth Plan period and in the last 18 years the area under soyabean has risen by 100 times.

The major soyabean producing districts in Rajasthan are Kotah, Bundi, Jhalawar, Baran and Chittorgarh. Last year its production was around 6.30 lakh tonnes as against a mere 3,000 tonnes in 1981.

In some of the districts the prices of soyabean have fallen considerably as compared to last year. In some areas the prices, said Kothari, ruled even below the minimum support price.

The fall in the prices ranged from 25 per cent to 50 per cent depending on the quality. This year the crop production wasexpected to be around 6.64 lakh tonnes.

Other traders in the field agree with the views of Kothari and point out that there is need to check the liberal policy of import of edible oils. Some restrictions should be imposed on the import of edible oils by STC. For the time being the import of edible oils may even be stopped.

In Rajasthan almost all the solvent extraction plants have been lying closed in the absence of the market. ``We just cannot compete with the ruling international prices,'' said Kothari.