Food Sufficiency: Boosting production of edible oil discussed

Myanmar Oil Millers Association held its Annual General Meeting in Yangon on Sunday. Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation U Tin Htut Oo gave an opening speech, saying that the Government is payint special attention for food sufficiency, increasing incomes and promoting the social status of the people.

For boosting production of edible oil, sunflower cultivation has been extended to 1.5 million acres. Efforts are being made to stand as a country that export quality edible oil, to ensure food safety for the consumers and to produce quality products, while providing quality sunflower seeds, inviting investors and assisting the agricultural loans.

The Union Minister urged all concerned organizations to make harmonious efforts for achieving success. Union Minister for Industry Dr Charlie Than also said that the Ministry is providing assistance for development of the industries based on agriculture and boosting the agriculture produces.

He pledged to manufacture the farm machinery for boosting production and other mechanical parts needed for the oil mills while sharing knowledge on technologies. Union Minister for Commerce Dr Pwint San also said that efforts are being made to fullfill the needs of producing about 1 million tons of edible oil for local consumption, and establishing the major oil mills.

The official from the Ministry of Health also discussed food safety measures and quality control. At present, there are over 4,200 oil mills of major, medium and small scale in the country as of early 2021. The major oil mill is around 5% of all the facilities with over 230 in numbers. The annual production is over 66,000 tons.