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New Delhi: On Thursday, 19th August 2021, the DoNER Minister G. Kishan Reddy on Centre’s approval to large-scale oil palm cultivation in the Northeast said that it will change the economic face of the Northeast Region.
The Union Cabinet has approved the implementation of the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm with the NE region as the special focus area, aiming to reduce import dependency of palm oil benefitting the oil palm farmers & creating employment generation, the minister tweeted.
The Union Cabinet also approved a package of Rs 77.45 crore for the revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC), a central public sector enterprise under the administrative control of the DoNER Ministry, that will ensure remunerative prices to the farmers and provide better farming facilities and training to the farmers of the Northeastern region, the minister said.
The Mission aims to increase the area under cultivation for oil palm by an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectares thereby reaching the target of 10 lakh hectares in the next 5 years. “India is the largest edible oil importer in the world and imports 133.50 lakh tonnes costing 80 thousand crores.
However, the government has identified the Northeastern region as a special focus area as the target set for the region in the next 5 years is more than 50% of the overall target set for the entire nation. Also, the existing experience of states such as Mizoram is ranked among the top five cultivators of oil palm in the country.
The farmers of states such as Mizoram already have significant oil palm cultivation experience and we can leverage their expertise in the rest of the Northeastern states, the mInister further stated.
