“The total approved cost of the NMEO (Oil Palm) Scheme is Rs 11,040 crore, out of which Rs 8,844 crore is Central share and Rs 2,196 crore state share. For the year 2021-22, a total of Rs 10,422.69 lakh has been approved for various state annual action plans,” the minister said.
TFM Desk
Centre has identified 66,652 hectare of land in six districts of Manipur as potential areas for oil palm cultivation.
The information was given in a written reply by the union minister of agriculture and farmers welfare Narendra Singh Tomar in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, according to official sources.
During the year 2020-21, India imported 133.5 lakh tonnes of edible oil, out of which the share of palm oil was around 56 percent. The National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) has been launched with the aim to augment the availability of edible oil in the country by harnessing area expansion, increasing crude palm oil production with the aim to reduce the import burden.
The salient features of NMEO-Oil palm include assistance for planting material, inputs for intercropping upto gestation period of four years and for maintenance, establishment of seed gardens, nurseries, micro irrigation, bore well/pumpset/water harvesting structure, vermicompost units, solar pumps, harvesting tools, custom hiring centre cum harvester groups, farmers and officers training, and for replanting of old oil palm gardens etc.
“The total approved cost of the NMEO (Oil Palm) Scheme is Rs 11,040 crore, out of which Rs 8,844 crore is Central share and Rs 2,196 crore state share. For the year 2021-22, a total of Rs 10,422.69 lakh has been approved for various state annual action plans,” the minister said in the written reply.
The Reassessment Committee of ICAR- Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research (IIOPR) 2020 has assessed around 28 lakh hectares potential for oil palm cultivation in 22 states and union territories. While assessing the potential area, ICAR-IIOPR considered all the environmental and bio diversity parameters and recommended its cultivation in selected districts and states, it added.
For other Northeastern states: Arunachal Pradesh – 1,33,811 hectares in 11 districts; Assam – 3,75,428 hectares in 10 districts; Meghalaya – 1,22,637 hectares in four districts; Mizoram – 66792 hectares in eight districts; Nagaland – 51,297 hectares in six districts; Tripura – 1,46,364 hectares in four districts.
Annual edible oilseeds — soybean, rapeseed and mustard, groundnut, sesame, sunflower, safflower and niger are also grown in the country. Potential districts for these crops have been identified on the basis of land suitability and average yield, the minister informed.
As per ICAR-IIOPR, oil palm requires less water compared to crops like rice, banana and sugarcane for its optimum cultivation. Under the mission emphasis has been given to promote micro irrigation and water conservation in oil palm for efficient water management and judicious use of water, it added.