Niranjan Reddy dismisses reports of Telangana govt abolishing subsidy on oil palm

Hyderabad: Stating that Telangana Government was extending subsidy to the tune of Rs.49,800 per acre for cultivation of oil palm, Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy appealed to the farmers not to fall prey for the baseless reports published in a few sections of the media that State Government was abolishing subsidy on the crop cultivation.

For farmers, who opted for loans to cultivate oil palm, the subsidy component would be directly deposited into their accounts. This was an option being extended to the farmers, the Minister said here on Friday.

No other States can match Telangana Government in extending subsidy on drip irrigation. The State Government was extending subsidy covering 80 to 100 percent for drip irrigation systems to promote and support the farmers, he said.

About Rs.193 subsidy was being extended for each oil palm sapling. Towards this, Rs.11,000 subsidy was being extended for distribution of 57 saplings per acre, he explained adding Rs.22,000 subsidy was being extended for drip system per acre.

In addition to these, Rs.16,800 subsidy was also being extended for urea and other expenditure for four years. This amounts to Rs.4200 per acre for one year, he informed. Accordingly, Rs.1000 crore was allocated in the current budget and already oil palm saplings have been planted in thousands of acres in the State, he said.

The State Government is extensively promoting cultivation of oil palm and has set a target of cultivating the crop in 20 lakh acres. Under this initiative, 30,000 farmers were taken on field visits as a means to create awareness among them over the benefits of cultivating oil palm.

For the 2022-23 financial year, the State Government has set target of cultivating the crop in two lakh acres.

The annual demand for edible oil in the country is 23 lakh metric tonnes. However, only 10 to 11 lakh metric tonnes of edible oil was available in the country. The balance component of palm oil was being imported from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and neighbouring countries by spending about Rs.80,000 to Rs.90,000 crores, he added.

Considering all these factors, the State Government was extensively promoting cultivation of oil palm, the Minister said.