Oil Palm industry demands subsidy policy to help farmers

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, November 17

Welcoming the Central government’s recent announcement allowing 100% FDI in oil palm plantations, the Oil Palm Developers and Processors Association (OPDPA), the nodal body for oil palm development in the country, has called for long-term subsidy policy to support the farmers.

“Allowing FDI in this sector is one of the important steps in helping fill the gap of edible oil deficit in India. The country has more than 2 lakh hectares under oil palm, with an additional potential of around 2 million hectares. With this positive step from the government, this massive potential can be cashed into and India’s palm oil import burden of $10 billion can be reduced,” said Sanjay Goenka, president of OPDPA.

Pointing out that the current import duty levels are not supportive to oil palm farmers and the industry, the OPDPA rooted for a separate palm oil import policy. The apex industry body also called for relaxation of land ceiling norms for oil palm growth, allowing large scale plantation and formation of a separate oil palm development Board to aid the promotion of the industry. “This will also help address issues facing the farmer and industry on a regular and on a priority basis, which at present is largely going unattended and is one of the reasons for poor palm oil development in the country,” it said.

“The above steps will go a long way in protecting the interests of all stakeholders, including armers, workers, industry and the government, paving the way for the country to reach a stage of self sufficiency in edible oil,” it said.