According to the association, the decision will have a positive impact on oil palm farmers, and help increase their net earnings
The Oil Palm Developers and Processors Association (OPDPA), the nodal agency for oil palm cultivation in India has welcomed the announcement by the Prime Minister (PM) of India, Narendra Modi, on taking up oil palm plantations aggressively in India to make India self-sufficient in edible oils. The PM announced a new national initiative on palm oil production to help increase oil palm production in the country, thereby helping curtail imports and simultaneously increasing farmer income. The scheme, namely, National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), for self-reliance in edible oil involves an investment of over Rs 11,000 crore towards palm oil development.
According to OPDPA, through this announcement, the government places its emphasis on the Make In India and Atmanirbhar Bharat agenda which will make India self-sufficient in edible oils. The OPDPA has been requesting a significant policy change to push local oil palm cultivation and thanks to the PMs vision, the same has been accommodated.
The scheme, according to sources, is expected to incentivise the production of palm oil to reduce dependence on imports and help farmers cash in on the huge market availability for oil palm. The centre plans to raise the domestic production of palm oil by three times to 11 lakh MT by 2025-26. This will involve raising the area under oil palm cultivation to 10 lakh hectares by 2025-26 and 16.7 lakh hectares by 2029-30.
The special emphasis of the scheme will be on India’s north-eastern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to the conducive weather conditions in the regions.
Commenting on the announcement made by the PM, Sanjay Goenka, President, OPDPA said, “The expanse of oil palm cultivation in the country is very negligible today as compared to the potential the crop possesses. We have seen the transformation this crop has brought about in the lives of the farmer community in Andhra Pradesh and we hope to emulate the same in the other potential states as well. A robust, long-term policy mechanism will give this crop the required push across India. Given the new scheme National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), India can truly achieve its goal of self-sufficiency in edible oils by pushing for development in the oil palm plantation sector. While we await the detailed policy guidelines on this front, we appreciate the move by the Government of India and simultaneously assure our PM that all of us processors at the OPDPA of India will strive hard to make his dream of self-reliance in edible oil come true.”
“The industry needs several reforms to maintain its viability and attract further investments in various states of India. OPDPA has been aggressively pursuing the agenda with the government to bring in structural policy changes which will greatly propel the industry to new growth levels. With these policy changes and new scheme NMEO-OP, we can truly achieve our PM’s vision of Atmanirbharta in edible oils,” Goenka added.
