Oil palm plantation: Plantation of palm oil trees on 3 thousand 500 hectares in 11 states, focus on increasing edible oil production
Oil palm plantation: Oil palm plantation campaign was implemented in 49 districts of 11 states under National Edible Oil Mission – Oil Palm . State governments along with palm oil processing companies have launched the ‘Mega Oil Palm Plantation Drive’ to promote palm oil cultivation and increase production. This will help India become ‘self-reliant’ in edible oil production. Meanwhile, according to the information given by the Ministry of Agriculture, more than 7 thousand farmers have planted more than 5 lakh trees on an area of about 3 thousand 500 hectares.
According to the information provided by the central government, the tree plantation drive was started on 25 July 2023. The campaign was concluded on August 12. The target is to plant 6.5 lakh hectares of palm oil by 2025-26. More than 7 thousand farmers in 77 villages in 49 districts of 11 states have planted more than five lakh palm oil trees. .
Plantation of palm oil trees in these 11 states
According to the information provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, palm oil has been planted in the major palm oil producing states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Karnataka, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Tripura. Seminars were organized from time to time in connection with tree plantation. The aim is to make farmers and employees more aware, to improve the health of trees. This will increase productivity and generate sustainable sources of income.
Import of palm oil to India from Indonesia and Malaysia
The palm oil crop is also known as the magical crop. Palm oil is present in almost every daily food. It is used in food, chocolate, ice cream, bread, butter and even cosmetics. It is used as biofuel in diesel and petrol. It is also widely used in the industrial sector. Therefore, emphasis is being placed on increasing the production of palm oil in the country. Palm oil accounts for 60 percent of the total edible oil market in India. But palm oil production in India is only 2.7 percent of the total requirement. India imports 90 percent of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.
