Government decides to take up palm oil cultivation in 20L acres in TS

Hyderabad: Considering the potential of oil palm cultivation in the State, the government has decided to take up palm oil cultivation in a large area of 20 lakh acres. In view of the increased need for crop rotation in the State, the Telangana government has allotted factory zones to 11 companies to undertake expansion of oil palm cultivation in 27 districts. Two lakh acres of oil palm cultivation has been planned for raising plants for 2023-24 year.

At present, oil palm is cultivated in 1,30,463 acres in the State. The government has set a target for the Agriculture department to increase the area under oil palm cultivation in the State to 10 lakh acres in the next four years. Last year, oil palm was grown in 60,023 acres in the State. The State government has taken up campaign to educate the farmers and provide them with incentives to take up oil palm cultivation in 1.20 lakh acres across the State. In the year 2021-22, under various schemes in the State nearly 68,440 acres, 13,302 farmers have been brought under oil palm cultivation. For the year 2022-23 too, 61,277 acres 15710 farmers have been brought under oil palm cultivation. The government has released Rs 107.43 crore as the first installment for the implementation of the scheme, out of which Rs 82 crore has been given as subsidy to farmers and companies.

The State government was providing assistance to take up oil palm cultivation with 50% assistance on mechanization and plans to take up oil palm cultivation on a mission mode as part of crop diversification. So far, the respective companies have set up 38 nurseries across the State for growing oil palm plants. The State requires about 3.66 lakh tonnes of palm oil, but currently only 52,666 tonnes are being produced. Currently, the area under oil palm cultivation in India is about 9.25 lakh acres. The country has a palm oil demand of more than 100 lakh metric tonnes, while annually production of crude palm oil is only 2.90 lakh metric tonnes per annum. This deficit is met by the country through imports. An additional 70 lakh acres of land is required for palm oil self-sufficiency in the country.

Telangana State ranks first in the country in Oil Production Percentage (OER) (19.32 % in 2021-22). Among the oilseed crops, palm oil is the highest yielder (10- 12 tons per acre), 25-30 yrs. It can fetch around Rs.1,20,000/- to Rs.1,50,000/- per annum. Government pays subsidy up to Rs.50918/- per acre for oil palm plantations, ownership intercropping and micro-irrigation for the first four years.