CONFLICT BETWEEN ETHANOL BLENDING AND FOOD SECURITY

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Picture Courtesy:  DOWNTOEARTH

Context

The Economic Survey 2025-26 reveals a conflict between Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) and food security because incentives favor maize for ethanol over essential food crops like pulses and oilseeds.

Key Concerns Raised by the Economic Survey 2025-26

Distorted Cropping Patterns: There is a rapid and disproportionate expansion of maize cultivation, which is now the preferred feedstock for ethanol.

Neglect of Essential Crops: Declining or stagnant cultivation area and production of vital food crops, especially pulses and oilseeds, threaten nutritional security as these are staple items.

Threat to Food Security: Prioritizing fuel crops over essential food crops risks national food security and nutritional stability.

Increased Import Dependence: Declining domestic oilseed output exacerbates India's already high dependence (over 60%) on edible oil imports, increasing vulnerability to global price volatility.

Comparative Agricultural Growth (FY2022 - FY2025)

(Source: Economic Survey 2025-26)

Core Conflict Energy v/s Food Security

The Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) targets 20% ethanol blending in petrol (E20) driving the conflict of diverting agricultural resources like sugarcane, maize, and surplus rice from food consumption to energy production.

Consequences of Prioritizing Fuel Over Food

Impact on Food Security & Nutrition

Food Inflation: Increased demand for sugarcane, rice, and maize from distilleries can drive up their market prices, making staple foods more expensive for the poor.

Reduced Food Availability: Diverting food grains, even if termed "surplus," reduces the overall quantity available for consumption or strategic reserves.

Nutritional Impact: A policy focus on high-yield energy crops may discourage the cultivation of diverse, nutrient-rich crops like millets and pulses, impacting dietary diversity.

Environmental and Agricultural Stress

Water Scarcity: Sugarcane is a highly water-intensive crop. Expanding its cultivation for ethanol in water-stressed regions like Maharashtra puts immense pressure on groundwater resources.

Crop Monoculture: Guaranteed prices for energy feedstocks can encourage farmers to shift to monoculture, reducing agricultural biodiversity and degrading soil health over time.

Land Use Change: There is a risk of converting pastures, fallow lands, or even forest areas for cultivating energy crops, leading to environmental degradation.

Socio-Economic Impacts

Farmer Vulnerability: While farmers may benefit from assured income in the short term, over-reliance on policy-driven crops makes them vulnerable to sudden shifts in government mandates or pricing.

Inter-Sectoral Competition: The biofuel industry may compete with the food processing industry for the same raw materials, creating market distortions.

Consumer Burden: Higher food prices directly impact household budgets, reducing the purchasing power of the common citizen.

Way Forward 

The Economic Survey 2025-26 recommends a strategic recalibration of the EBP, not an abandonment of its goals. The focus should be on creating a sustainable balance.

Develop a Comprehensive Roadmap: Create an integrated policy framework that addresses both energy and food security goals simultaneously, considering the entire agricultural value chain.

Boost Productivity of Food Crops: Launch targeted missions and invest in R&D to improve the yields of pulses and oilseeds, making them more profitable for farmers.

Rebalance Market Incentives: Review and adjust input subsidies and output prices to prevent undue advantage to any single feedstock. Ethanol pricing should be dynamic and responsive to food security needs.

Accelerate the Shift to 2G Ethanol: Provide a strong policy push and financial incentives for setting up commercial-scale 2G ethanol biorefineries that use non-food feedstock like crop residue.

Plan Feedstock Cultivation: Align the cultivation of ethanol feedstock with regional agro-climatic zones to prevent the displacement of staple food crops and ensure sustainable resource use.

Learn Lessons from Global Experiences

International experience shows that biofuel mandates, if not carefully managed, can distort food markets. To counter this, many countries are adopting corrective measures.

• Capping Food-Based Feedstocks: The European Union has placed limits on the use of food and feed crop-based biofuels to meet its renewable energy targets.
• Transition to 2G Biofuels: A global best practice is to accelerate the shift towards Second-Generation (2G) biofuels, which use non-food biomass like agricultural waste (e.g., rice straw, bagasse), thus avoiding the food-fuel conflict.

Conclusion

Ethanol Blending Programme needs urgent policy recalibration to balance the "food vs fuel vs feed" equation, boost food crop productivity, and accelerate second-generation biofuels to ensure food and nutritional security.

Source: DOWNTOEARTH