State govts, oil palm firms launch mega drive till August 12 to increase oil palm cultivation

New Delhi: State governments along with oil palm processing firms have launched a mega drive till August 12 to increase the area under oil palm cultivation in the country, the Agriculture Ministry said on Sunday.

The major oil palm growing states, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh will be participating in this initiative, it said.

The mega plantation drive commenced on July 25 and will continue till August 12, the ministry said in a statement. Oil palm cultivation is being promoted under the central scheme National Mission for Edible Oils- Oil Palm which was launched in August 2021. Under this mission, the Centre aims to increase the oil palm production area to 10 lakh hectare and boost the crude palm oil production to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26.

Three major oil palm processing companies -- Patanjali Food Pvt Ltd, Godrej Agrovet, and 3F -- are actively promoting and participating with the farmers in their respective states towards area expansion. According to the ministry, the oil palm plantation drive in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Goa and Karnataka continue till August 8, where 7,000 hectare will be covered out of which the target is to cover 6,500 hectare in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

In the North-Eastern Region (NER) states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Mizoram, and Nagaland, the drive continues till August 12 and covers more than 750 hectare of area. The Assam government aims to cover more than 75 hectare in eight districts till August 5 during the mega drive, while Arunachal Pradesh is targeting to cover an area of almost 700 hectare across 6 districts, the ministry added.