Centre’s Rs 11,000-crore push on palm oil to reduce dependency on imports

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 18

To reduce the country’s dependence on imports the Cabinet on Wednesday approved Rs-11040 crore outlay for a centrally sponsored scheme, the National Mission on Edible Oils ndash; Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), with a special focus on the northeast region and the Andaman and Nicobar Island.

Due to the heavy dependence on imports for edible oils, it is important to make efforts for increasing their domestic production in which increasing area and productivity of oil palm plays an important part, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, briefing about the decision taken at the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Tomar said this is in line with the vision to infuse ‘aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) in the country. There was a detailed discussion on “doubling farmers’ income” at the meeting, Iamp;B Minister Anurag Thakur added.

Under the scheme, the Centre will ensure that farmers are not affected by market fluctuations, said Tomar. A financial outlay of Rs 11,040 crore has been made for the scheme, out of which Rs. 8,844 crore is the Centre’s share and Rs 2,196 crore State’ share and this includes the viability gap funding also, he said.

“It is proposed to cover an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectare till 2025-26, thereby reaching the target of 10 lakh hectares ultimately. The production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is expected to go up to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and up to 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30,” the Agriculture Minister said.

“The scheme will immensely benefit the oil palm farmers, increase capital investment, create employment generation, shall reduce the import dependence and increase the income of the farmers,” he added.

On why a biodiversity-rich area like the northeast was used to plant “monoculture crop”, Tomar said a study recommended that 28 lakh hectares of land in the country is viable for its production of palm oil out of which 9 lakh hectares is in the northeast.

“This land is not being diverted out of some other crop. Even today around 98% of CPO is being imported. We need to go towards high-yielding crops like palm oil and reduce dependency on imports. Scientists are working on increasing productivity of other oilseeds like mustard, sunflower, peanuts.” he said.

“For harnessing the potential of palm oil production, in 2020, an assessment made by the Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research (IIOPR) had given an assessment of around 28 lakh ha. There is huge potential in oil palm plantation and subsequently production of CPO. At present only 3.70 lakh hectares is under Oil Palm cultivation. Oil palm produces 10 to 46 times more oil per hectare compared to other oilseed crops and has a yield of around 4 tonnes oil per hectare Thus, it has enormous potential for cultivation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the scheme covers a price assurance, known as the Viability Price (VP), to farmers for raw material to protect them from the fluctuations of the international CPO prices and volatility. A substantial increase has been made for planting material for oil palm from Rs 12,000 per ha to Rs 29000 per ha. Special assistance at the rate of Rs 250 per plant will also be given to replant old gardens for the rejuvenation of old gardens.

“The government is committed to bringing prosperity in the homes of farmers, increasing their incomes, and ensure that they get attracted to expensive crops. Several departments are working on it,” he said in response to a question on the ongoing agitation against the three farm laws. “The agitation is not the topic for today. However, I must say that farmers have worked hard and done their duty despite Covid 19 and the lockdown and the government has also fulfilled its commitment to them”.