State to focus on cultivation of oil palm to benefit farmers

● NIRANJAN REDDY said the need for crop rotation and cultivation of alternative crops like oil palm to increase yield and cater to the market demand. Oil palm was the only crop with a buy-back guarantee from the oil companies.

Agriculture minister Niranjan Reddy on Thursday said that the state government will be focusing on promoting oil palm cultivation on a large scale. The minister was replying to questions raised by members during Question Hour in the Assembly.

He told the House that oil palm cultivation has been taken up in about 6,250 acres and the government had decided to promote it as part of its efforts to make agriculture profitable for farmers.

Niranjan Reddy said the need for crop rotation and cultivation of alternative crops like oil palm to increase yield and cater to the market demand. Oil palm was the only crop with a buy-back guarantee from the oil companies.

He said, “as per the Central government guidelines, we have issued notification inviting proposals from oil companies to allocate areas for purchasing oil palm from farmers.”

He told the House that the state government had evaluated the credentials of the companies which came forward and will complete zonal allotment after taking approval from the Chief Minister.

The minister said about 1.41 crore acres were under cultivation in the state during the monsoon season. Keeping in view of the good response from farmers for regulated farming, the state government was focusing on promoting new crop varieties like oil palm.

Keeping the demand for edible oils and increasing usage of forex to import them, the Centre was promoting edible oil crops and had approved cultivation of oil palm in 8.14 lakh acres in the state, he added.