Kakinada: The Horticulture Department in the Kakinada district is actively promoting oil palm cultivation this year by offering attractive subsidies and awareness programmes aimed at significantly expanding the crop’s cultivation area. Officials are encouraging farmers, especially those relying on borewells for cultivating paddy and certain horticultural crops in upland regions, to switch to oil palm as a sustainable and profitable alternative.

Currently, crops such as paddy, vegetables, mulberry, and cotton dominate the district’s agricultural landscape. However, from this year, the department has set ambitious targets to expand oil palm cultivation: 3,050 hectares in Pithapuram, 2,193.50 hectares in Peddapuram, 2,222.40 hectares in Tuni, 1,825 hectares in Sankhavaram, 2,347 hectares in Jaggampeta, and 2,128 hectares in Prathipadu.

Officials have begun educating farmers about the long-term benefits of oil palm, especially in the backdrop of India’s continued reliance on imported palm oil. Expanding domestic cultivation could significantly benefit local farmers.

The government is offering robust incentives to promote the crop. Farmers will receive free planting material worth RS 20,000 per hectare (approximately 57 plants per hectare). In addition, they will get RS 5,200 per year for four years to cover fertilizer and maintenance costs. An additional RS 5,200 per year is available if intercropping is undertaken. Subsidy amounts will be directly credited to farmers’ accounts under the MGNREGS.

Pithapuram Horticulture Officer Sailaja said awareness programmes on oil palm cultivation and government subsidies have generated considerable interest among farmers. She added that many currently growing paddy face recurring losses due to floods and pests. In this context, the department is encouraging farmers to adopt oil palm as a viable, long-term alternative.