Camelina oilseeds: a step towards oil self-sufficiency

If this plant does not pose any environmental risks, it seems that, given its characteristics, it can play an effective role in increasing the country's self-reliance in oil.

In an exclusive interview with Dr. Daniyal Kahrizi, a university professor and the executive of the national Camelina cultivation plan, we will learn more about this plant and its characteristics.

You can see his summary of his talk in a concise form without mentioning the questions:

In 2013, I became familiar with this plant and its characteristics in Greece and realized that it is suitable for our country. Among its characteristics are its low water consumption and resistance to biological stresses such as drought, cold, and pests.

Some of its seeds were transferred to Iran and about 600 lines of this plant were cultivated, and currently one variety of this plant called "Soheil" has been introduced for cultivation. Of course, we also have other varieties in the pipeline.

This plant grows easily in areas with 220 mm of rainfall. Considering that 70 percent of the arable land in our country is dry land with very poor crop rotation and we do not have a suitable oilseed crop for these lands, for this reason the mentioned plant can be a good option for cultivation in such lands.

We have tested it in cold and hot climates and... in cooperation with the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad and in the form of student theses and have received good responses. Only in tropical regions its saturated fatty acids are slightly higher.

Its yield in dry land conditions has been about one ton and in irrigated cultivation up to about 2700 kg. It has about 40-37 percent oil and its meal is very suitable for livestock consumption in terms of nutritional value. Omega-3 and omega-6 oils, as well as various antioxidants and properties found in its oil, are also found in its meal.

These properties are also seen in livestock products produced by feeding this meal, for example, in eggs or meat and milk from animals fed this meal, and in fact, feeding this plant meal enriches livestock products.

This plant has good resistance to pests and diseases. On the other hand, if it is cultivated in high densities, it does not allow weeds to grow due to the presence of allelopathic substances, so there is no need for any poisons in its cultivation. On the other hand, it is a completely undemanding plant in terms of fertilizer requirements and not much fertilizer is used in its cultivation. Therefore, considering the above, we will basically have an organic product.

The oil produced is rich in omega-3, tocopherols and vitamin E and has many therapeutic properties and can also be used in cosmetic and health products.

Camellia oil is used in many health and beauty products in Europe. Its oil is suitable for softening and moisturizing. There are many articles that show that its oil is effective for heart diseases, MS, cancer treatment, etc.

It is said that the Finnish natives who use this oil have not reported a single case of cancer, which they attribute to the camelina oil.

In Iran, the standards organizations and the Food and Drug Administration have conducted research on it and it has been proven that the oil of this plant does not cause any problems for humans, so they are developing national standards for this plant. This oil also has FDA licenses from the United States, the Food and Drug Administration of Canada, and health licenses from the European Union.

The cultivation of this plant is extremely easy, and with the same common tools, planting, growing, and harvesting can be done. To harvest it, the same conventional grain and rapeseed harvesters can be used with the necessary adjustments.

Another advantage it has over rapeseed is that rapeseed can shed its seeds if harvested late, but this plant does not shed its seeds.

According to the order of the Minister of Agricultural Jihad, 20,000 hectares of this crop are to be cultivated in 2010, mostly in the provinces of Fars, North Khorasan and Razavi, Kermanshah, Mazandaran, Ilam, Kurdistan, and Khuzestan. The price of its seeds per kilogram is 20,000 Tomans and the purchase price is 8,000 Tomans. It requires about 7 kilograms of seeds per hectare for cultivation; If the planting is done carefully and there is uniformity in germination, about 4 kilograms of seeds per hectare is sufficient, but due to the failure to observe some essential requirements, the amount of seeds should be considered higher.