Oil palm cultivation: Tomar assures all support to Telangana

Hyderabad: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said Telangana has been in the forefront of oil palm cultivation and exuded confidence that the State would emerge as the leader in cultivation of the crop in the country in the coming years. Addressing the business summit on National Mission on Edible Oils- Oil Palm here on […]

Hyderabad: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said Telangana has been in the forefront of oil palm cultivation and exuded confidence that the State would emerge as the leader in cultivation of the crop in the country in the coming years.

Addressing the business summit on National Mission on Edible Oils- Oil Palm here on Tuesday, the Union Minister assured that the Centre would extend all support to States including Telangana on oil palm cultivation.

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He said the national mission was launched with the objective of increasing domestic production and reduce import of oils, besides ensuring increased income for farmers.

Efforts are on to increase investments in seed availability, technical support and setting up of procurement centres. Targets have been set to achieve cultivation of oil palm in 26 lakh hectares across the country by 2029- 30, he said. “State Agriculture Minister Niranjan Reddy has made a few appeals to the Centre, I assure that all support will be extended to Telangana,” Tomar said.

Stating that measures were being taken to cut down use of chemical fertilisers and promote organic farming extensively, he said both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have conducive atmosphere for organic farming.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary said the Central government had taken up the national mission with an outlay of Rs 11,000 crore, of which Rs.2, 000 crore would be borne by States.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar said orders were placed for 3.25 crore oil palm seedlings and 54 lakh sprouts had been received. This will be sufficient for cultivating the crop in 75,000 to 80,000 acres in the State, he said.

Describing the National Mission as a wonderful initiative, the Chief Secretary suggested setting up of an empanelled agency for supply of sprouts as this will bring in uniformity. A special team can visit different places and check the quality of seeds and certify so that States can purchase quality sprouts, he said, and suggested subsidy in capital expenditure in association with industries department.

“Maybe in 3 to 4 years, Telangana would be the third largest producer of crude palm oil after Indonesia and Malaysia. It needs Centre’s support,” Somesh Kumar said.