A ‘Mega Oil Palm Plantation Drive’ has been launched by the Indian Government under the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) throughout the country. The objective has been to encourage as well as increase oil palm cultivation in sync with the objective of making the country self reliant in the production of edible oils.
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To support the cause, Godrej Agrovet Ltd. (GAVL), a diversified agri-business company, organized an oil palm plantation drive in Chintampalli, Andhra Pradesh.
Witnessing participation from 200 farmers each from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the event was graced by Dr. PK Singh, Agriculture Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India; Kothagiri Sridhar, Member of Parliament, Eluru, Andhra Pradesh; Dr. K. Suresh, Director, ICAR- Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research (IIOPR); Balaji Naik, Additional Director of Horticulture, Andhra Pradesh; and Sougata Niyogi, CEO-Oil Palm Business, GAVL.
India is the world’s largest importer and the 2nd largest consumer of palm oil. With a local production of 300,000 tons, the country currently imports 7,500,000 tons.
Dr. PK Singh, Agriculture Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, who had commented on the nation-wide Mega Oil Palm Plantation Drive stated – “The plantation drive which coincided with the rainy season has received an encouraging response from the oil palm-processing companies and farmers. Covering approximately 3500 ha. of area and planting more than 5.00 lakh planting material during the drive, this will further assist us in achieving the target of bringing an additional area of 6.5 lakh ha. under oil palm production by 2025-26. Collaborating with players like Godrej, we are confident of enhancing productivity and creating sustainable income sources for the oil palm farmers.”
Kothagiri Sridhar, Member of Parliament, Eluru, Andhra Pradesh reinforced the significance of import duty for better price realization for the oil palm farmers, which in turn would aid the increase of the oil palm area under cultivation.
Sougata Niyogi, CEO-Oil Palm Business, GAVL, who had expressed his enthusiasm about the plantation drive stated – “At GAVL, we are committed to promoting sustainable and responsible oil palm cultivation. This drive is a significant step towards achieving self-reliance in edible oil production and uplifting the farming community. Having distributed more than 2.5 lakh saplings of oil palm across 20 districts in 10 states, we will continue to provide a number of resources to oil palm farmers in addition to training them on sustainable oil palm plantation practices by leveraging more than 30 years of our experience. We are confident that through Samadhan — our one-stop solution center for oil palm farmers — we will not only uplift the Indian oil palm farmers with small land parcels but also generate employment in their region.”
Highlighting the impact of oil palm cultivation on the local ecosystem and the environment, Dr. K. Suresh, Director, ICAR-IIOPR stated – “As the highest vegetable oil-yielding crop, oil palm cultivation enables farmers to have an additional source of income through intercropping and could generate more employment opportunities in their area of development. The crop sequesters more carbon than any other plantation crop and doesn’t impact the environment too. I am delighted to see the collaborative efforts among oil palm stakeholders, like this plantation drive wherein we all are focused on the common objective of reducing the dependency on imports for edible oils in achieving ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT in vegetable oil production and driving the economic growth of India.”
GAVL has recently inaugurated an edible oil refinery at Chintalapudi, Eluru district, its first downstream project for value-added products. The same was followed by the allocation of a potential area of 47,000 acres in Sangareddy District of Telangana, to expand cultivation of oil palm and set up oil palm-processing units.