PM bats for oil palm farming in north-east, Andaman & Nicobar

Modi said palm oil alone constitutes 55% of the total edible oil imports and there was a need to change this situation

With edible oil prices ruling high, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced a Rs 11,000 crore mission to make India self-sufficient in the sector, with a focus on increasing oil palm plantation in north-eastern states and Andaman & Nicobar islands.

“India is now recognised among the top 10 agri-exporters in the world. It is not at all appropriate that India has to rely on imports to meet its demand for edible oil,” Modi said addressing farmers after transfering an instalment of Rs 2,000 income support to over 9.75 crore farmers.

Modi said palm oil alone constitutes 55 per cent of the total edible oil imports and there was a need to change this situation.

The Prime Minister announced a national edible oil mission-oil palm (NEOM-OP) with an expenditure of Rs 11,000 crore to provide good quality seeds and technology to extract oil.

“Oil palm cultivation can be promoted in north-eastern states and Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” he said, adding that even small farmers can earn good returns by cultivation of oil palm, which gives highest yield per acre compared with any other oilseed crop.

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However, experts have warned against extensive oil palm farming at the cost of rainforests as it seeks to replace diverse forest ecosystems with monoculture crops.

Earlier, the prime minister transferred Rs 19,500 crore into bank accounts of over 9.75 crore farmers under the flagship scheme PM-KISAN.

“Nearly Rs 1.6 lakh crore have been transferred so far under PM-KISAN scheme, of which around Rs 1 lakh crore has been released during the pandemic, mostly to small farmers,” Modi said.

This amount will be useful for small farmers at a time when the sowing of kharif crops is at its peak in the current monsoon season, he said.

The Prime Minister also interacted with six farmers: Pratibha Ram Velipi (Goa), Devender Dananeshwar Japdekar (Maharashtra), Shamacharan Upadhay (Uttar Pradesh), Abdul Majeed Waani (J&K), Sushant Uniyal (Uttarakhand), and Thingche Gangte (Manipur) who shared how they benefitted from different central schemes.