Oil palm cultivation soars in Warangal district

948 farmers have already cultivated oil palm in about 3,200 acres in Warangal district.

Warangal: Farmers in the erstwhile Warangal district are showing increasing interest in cultivating oil palm, a profitable commercial crop. According to horticulture officials, 948 farmers have already cultivated oil palm in about 3,200 acres in Warangal district. The officials expect that farmers will cultivate oil palm on another 10,100 acres this year (2023-24).

The State government has been providing financial incentives to farmers who cultivate oil palm. This includes subsidies for setting up drip irrigation systems, investment assistance, and fertilizer and intercropping subsidies. The government has also set a target of encouraging farmers to cultivate oil palm on 57,000 acres in the next four years in Warangal district.

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Horticulture officials have proposed to cultivate oil palm on 4,018 acres in the first year 2022-23 in the district. To this extent, the government has given administrative permission for oil palm cultivation on 3,211 acres. Officials have prepared a plan for oil palm cultivation on 10,100 acres in the district for the current year 2023-24. Of this, 1,265 acres have received administrative permission from the government for cultivation. Ramcharan Oil Industries has won the contract to supply plants to oil palm farmers in the district and collect oil palm yields from them. A nursery has been set up at Ramachandrapuram village in Sangem Mandal for the cultivation of oil palm plants in agreement with the government. The plants grown in this nursery are supplied to oil palm farmers.

According to the agreement, Ramcharan Oil Industries has to make the factory available for four years after the start of oil palm cultivation. Farmers who cultivated oil palm last year have started to build a factory in the district as the deadline for the next three years is approaching. In order to take up the construction of the factory, land acquisition has been started at Tirmalayapalli village in Rayaparthi Mandal, said Horticulture Officer Shankar.

With the increasing interest of farmers in this crop, it is expected that the district will soon become a major producer of oil palm in the State. Meanwhile, in Jangaon district too, oil palm cultivation is picking up pace. In 2021-22, 426 acres were cultivated, followed by 3210 acres in 2022-23. This year, 1100 acres have been cultivated against the target of 5800 acres. In Hanamkonda district, the target for 2023-24 is 5900 acres, and the achievement so far is 855 acres.