Cabinet nod for ₹11,040cr scheme to boost oil palm farming
The decision comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the new Central scheme on August 15 during his Independence Day speech at Red Fort
To encourage palm oil production in India and decrease its import, the Centre has approved a plan named National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Wednesday, adding that the government has earmarked ₹11,040 crore for the plan. North Eastern Regional Agriculture Market Corporation Limited will also be getting a revival package of ₹70.45 crore.
The decision comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the new Central scheme on August 15 during his Independence Day speech at Red Fort.
“India is dependent on imports of edible oil… we import edible oil in large quantities, 56% of which is palm oil… It has been seen that India can cultivate around 2,800,000 hectares of land for palm oil trees, especially in the northeast region, where over 900,000 hectares is feasible for such cultivation,” he said.
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Tomar was speaking at a press briefing in the national Capital; he was accompanied by information and broadcasting minister Anurag Singh Thakur.
Tomar said the new scheme aims to cover palm oil tress in an additional area of 650,000 hectares by 2025-26 and thereby reaching the target of 1 million hectares.With this, the domestic production of crude palm oil (CPO) is expected to go up to 1.12 million tonnes by 2025-26 and up to 2.8 million tonnes by 2029-30.
“The plan is aimed at increasing the cultivation of palm oil trees from current 350,000 hectares to 1 million hectares and oil production will also increase to 2.8 million tonnes by 2030,” he said, adding that this will also improve the economy of the northeastern regions.
He said that most states have been working to increase the production of palm oil but are facing several challenges. “The plant of palm oil takes five years to bear fruit, and be profitable to farmers; prices of oil are also volatile… This causes fear among palm oil farmers,” he said.
He added that in northeast India, the roads leading to the region are terraneous, thereby causing a dearth of processing industries there. “The farmers are motivated to cultivate only in the presence of processing industries, and industries too are set up only when there is good cultivation,” he said, adding that this plan has been introduced to address all these crises.
Regarding farmers’ fear of price fluctuation, he said that the Centre will fix the cost of raw materials needed for palm oil production. “Like MSP (minimum support price) … we will fix the price of this raw material (cultivated by farmers)… This will motivate the farmers, and in case prices of the raw material crops drop, the government will pay the differential amount to farmers through DBT (direct bank transfer),” he said.
The assistance to oil palm growers for planting material has been increased from ₹12,000 per hectare to ₹29,000 per hectare. Further, substantial increase has been made for maintenance and inter-cropping interventions, he said. “A special assistance at ₹250 per plant is being given to replant old gardens for rejuvenation of old gardens,” Tomar said.
“Almost ₹11,000 crore will be spent by the Centre under this scheme. In most states, the Centre will give 60% of assistance and states will lend 40%, while in the northeast 90% of assistance will be given by the Centre,” he said.
He added that there have also been arrangements by the government to assist such farmers by helping them with the improvement of land and constructing boundary walls of their farms. India meets about two-thirds of its edible oil demand through imports.
With inputs from agencies