Government on Tuesday said it can again increase import duty on refined palm oils if the farmers' interests are affected even though the current situation does not warrant such an action.

"If we can slash import tariff, we can also increase it whenever the situation arises, but at present the oilseeds prices are remunerative enough for the farmers", Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh said in New Delhi.

Speaking on the sidelines of an official function, the minister said the production scenario in the country this year was such that refined palm oils duty had to be cut.

The customs tariff on RBD Palm and Palmolein Oil was cut to 70 per cent in the backdrop of near 25 per cent fall in oilseeds output in the country, he said.

Furthermore, it should not be a cause of concern as more than 97 per cent of the edible oils imports are in the crude segment.

He sought to allay fears that the slash in duty will reverse the trend saying questions have been raised whether the imports so far had actually been of the 'crude' category or that of refined oils shown as crude for evading duty.

He said at present farmers were enjoying remunerative returns on oilseeds with mustard seed quoting at over Rs 20,000 per tonne.

When queried that in event of cheaper imports of palm oils, domestic oils prices may fall to the detriment of farmers' interest, he said in such a case duty can be hiked again.