Telangana for more aid to oil palm crops

Hyderabad: State Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy on Tuesday urged the Central government to increase the indicative cost on drip irrigation from the current Rs 27,304 per hectare under PMKSY to Rs 50,000 to Rs 55,000 per hectare for cultivating oil palm. Stating that the Telangana government was promoting oil palm cultivation as part of […]

Hyderabad: State Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy on Tuesday urged the Central government to increase the indicative cost on drip irrigation from the current Rs 27,304 per hectare under PMKSY to Rs 50,000 to Rs 55,000 per hectare for cultivating oil palm.

Stating that the Telangana government was promoting oil palm cultivation as part of crop diversification even before the Central government planned it, he said assistance for installation of the micro irrigation system was limited to five hectares per beneficiary. This assistance should be extended for the entire plantation the area taken up by farmers as there was no such restriction under National Food Security Mission (Oil palm) for providing cultivation assistance, he pointed out, addressing the business summit on National Mission on Edible Oils- Oil Palm here.

This apart, as per the PMKSY guidelines, beneficiaries who have availed subsidy benefits for their farms cannot avail assistance for the next seven years. This lock-in period of seven years to availing micro-irrigation assistance should be relaxed for oil palm farmers exclusively, he appealed. The Central government has so far notified 10.77 lakh acres in Telangana for oil palm cultivation under the national mission for the next five years, but the State government has set a target to cultivate the crop in 30 lakh acres, he pointed out.

“I appeal to the Centre to revise the indicative cost norms, guidelines and assistance for installmicro-irrigationrrigation system in oil palm plantations in Telangana,” said Niranjan Reddy and submitted a memorandum to union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

‘Paddy production shot up manifold’

Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said agriculture production in Telangana State had shot up manifold due to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s vision and commitment to construct irrigation projects across the State. In 2014-15, paddy production was 68.2 lakh tonnes which shot up to 259 lakh tonnes by 2020-21. The State government was also extending Rythu Bandu investment support to farmers, he said.

“Telangana has even surpassed Punjab’s record in paddy production. In the last couple of months, we have been appealing to the Centre to increase paddy procurement from Telangana. We need your support,” Niranjan Reddy told union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who shared the stage at the programme.

Also read: Oil palm cultivation: Tomar assures all support to Telangana