Mancherial farmer harvests oil palm crop

As many as 2,226 farmers are raising the oil seed crop in 6,757 acres in the erstwhile district after being sensitized by horticulture officials as part of crop diversification.

Mancherial: The oil palm crop, grown on an experimental basis, was harvested in a 10-acre farm at Rapanpalli village in Kotapalli under Chennur Assembly constituency of the district for the first time in north Telangana, cheering officials of the horticulture department.

As many as 2,226 farmers are raising the oil seed crop in 6,757 acres in the erstwhile district after being sensitized by horticulture officials as part of crop diversification.

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A target of growing the crop in 16,200 acres was set for Mancherial, Adilabad, Nirmal and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts that were suitable for cultivation of the oil palm trees, as per a survey carried out by Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research in 2020.

Farmers of Mancherial district, traditionally, are known for growing staple paddy, cotton and lentils. But they ventured into alternative crop, cultivation of oil palm trees. Farmers gradually shifted to grow the trees. They raised the trees in 800 acres in 2022 as against 221 acres in 2021. A target of 2,442 acres was given for the district with the State promoting the trees.

Gurram Rajanna, a grower from Rapanpalli village harvested the crop and became the maiden farmer in north Telangana to reap benefits of the oil seed crop. He said he gathered the seeds of the crop in 2 acres on Thursday and Friday and would harvest the remaining eight acres from August 16.

Rajanna said he would be able to see around 10 tonnes of seeds per acre and the seeds were being sold for Rs 13,901 per tonne. He shared that he had grown the trees in 2020. He opined that the crop was ideal when compared with the traditional paddy, cotton, lentils and vegetables. He thanked the government for encouraging the farmers to switch to the crop.

Farmers belonging to Chennur, Kotapalli, Jaipur, Bheemaram, Jaipur, Hajipur and Luxettipet mandals came forward to grow the oil crop. They were provided with saplings and drip irrigation equipment at subsidized rates. Besides, they were offered an incentive of Rs 4,200 for maintenance per annum for four years.

A farmer can record a yield of 12 tonnes of seeds per acre for a period of 35 years if he follows prescribed steps, as per officials of the horticulture department.