Within Grasp or Elusive Goal? K N Ninan This paper examines the prospects of India realising her goal of self-sufficiency in oilseeds, in the light of the optimistic crop outlook for oilseeds in 1988-89. While analysing the various policy options for India to become selfreliant in this crucial sector, it suggests that the main constraint for increasing oilseeds production in India is technology It cautions against a strategy of laying sole emphasis on the price mechanism which can only be at the cost of coarse cereals, the main competitors of oilseeds and which are mostly consumed by people with low incomes.