Siddipet: Oil palm prices go up as farmers go for first harvest

Just as the Siddipet farmers started going for the first harvest of their palm oil crop, the price of oil palm per tonne has increased from Rs.13,000 to Rs.19,000.

Siddipet: The far-sighted decision of the previous BRS government to encourage farmers to cultivate oil palm is helping Siddipet farmers reap rich benefits.

Just as the Siddipet farmers started going for the first harvest of their palm oil crop, the price of oil palm per tonne has increased from Rs.13,000 to Rs.19,000. Traders forecast that the price could go up further up to Rs.21,000. The area under oil palm cultivation had increased to 12,000 acres in the district, which is second only to Khammam district. Farmers who cultivated the crop in 2021 have started getting their first harvest this year. Many farmers would get their first harvest in December.

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The farmers in the district have harvested nearly 80 tonnes of the crop so far, which they sent to an oil palm factory in Khammam. However, the farmers of Siddipet can sell their produce in the district by next June. Since the government is building an oil palm factory at Naremtta in Nanganur mandal, the marketing of their produce will become much easier. Officials have already announced that the factory will be opened by next June when a good number of Siddipet farmers will get their harvest.

Meanwhile, Siddipet Horticulture Officer Suvarna said they had set a target of adding another 4,000 acres this year, of which 800 acres were achieved so far. To encourage the farmers, she said they were offering 80 to 90 per cent subsidy on drip and other agriculture implements besides extending Rs.57,000 through the horticulture department and Rs.47, 000 to MNREGS in a phased manner for four years.

Farmer Samala Sanjeeva Reddy, who got his first harvest, said they were elated over the price rise. He had cultivated oil palm on 33 acres in a phased manner at Ippalagudem in Markook mandal. Former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Minister T Harish Rao had encouraged the farmers to take up oil palm cultivation. The aim was to increase the cultivation to 50,000 acres.