Telangana farmers urged to shift from paddy to palm oil amid 80% price surge
Palm oil prices in Telangana have surged nearly 80% over the past decade, encouraging farmers to shift from water-intensive paddy to oil palm cultivation. The state plans to expand the crop area to 10 lakh hectares and will inaugurate a ₹300-crore processing plant in Siddipet district to boost value addition. 🌴📈
Prices of palm oil shot up by 80 per cent from ₹12,000 a tonne to ₹21,546 in Telangana in the last 10 years, with the state government encouraging farmers to move away from the water-guzzling paddy to palm oil plantation.
The state, which grows this edible crop in about one lakh hectares, has set a target to increase the area to 10 lakh hectares over the next few years.
With interest in the plantation crop growing, the state government will inaugurate an oil palm factory with an investment of ₹300 crore at Narmetta village in Siddhipet district.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will formally inaugurate the factory on March 22. The plant will help farmers add value to the produce. He will lay the foundation stone for a ₹40-crore refinery.
“The state has emerged as a major paddy producer in the country as groundwater levels improved. The bonus given by the state government as an incentive for producing super fine varieties encouraged farmers to grow more paddy,” Telangana Agriculture, Marketing and Cooperation Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said.
Citing issues with procurement, the Minister felt that farmers should move away from paddy and shift to crops that didn’t face the challenges such as pests and diseases, wild boar and monkey attacks.
“Oil palm fits the bill here. I appeal to farmers to shift to oil palm. In order to encourage more farmers to take up this edible oil crop cultivation, the Union Government must take measures to increase the price to ₹25,000 a tonne,” the Minister said.
Oil palm factory
The plant, with an initial processing capacity of 30 tonnes per hour (TPH), can scale up its capacity to 120 TPH. The plant will also have a facility to support Vijaya Hyderabad Edible Oils Brand.
Telangana asked the Centre to take measures to further increase it to ₹25,000 so that more farmers take up the edible crop cultivation. To open a ₹300-cr refinery to help farmers adds value and earn more revenues.
Stating that the increased prices are quite encouraging, Mahesh Reddy, an oil palm farmer from the undivided Khammam district, hoped that prices would remain high during the upcoming marketing season (May to October).
To Read more about Edible Oil News continue reading Agriinsite.com
Source : The Hindu Business line
