Dynamics of household edible oil consumption in rural and urban Tamil Nadu (India)

Till 1990’s the dominant edible oil produced and consumed in India were rapeseed-mustard and groundnut. The technological, economic and policy changes thereafter induced dynamics in consumer demand for food, including edible oils. The markov chain analysis for rural and urban Tamil Nadu state revealed that there is perceptible shift in edible oil consumption from traditional groundnut oil to Other Edible Oils (OEO). The possible reason for these shifts are increased urbanization (changing lifestyles), increased awareness, availability of oils in packet form in varied quantities even in remote rural areas, change in relative prices of oils, and increased income levels of rural and urban households. The secondary data published by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) did not clearly disintegrate the OEO's, hence the primary data was employed to determine the current status of edible oil consumption. The results revealed that presently, the dominant edible oil consumed is sunflower oil in both the rural and urban regions of Tamil Nadu. The groundnut oil, which was traditionally consumed by households, has been replaced by sunflower oil, implying the need for appropriate changes in the production front.