Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy said that oil palm cultivation will offer stable income for three decades with not much investment. Addressing a gathering of farmers on oil palm cultivation held here on Sunday along with Finance Minister T. Harish Rao and others, Mr. Niranjan Reddy said that the Union government had accorded permission to Telangana to cultivate oil palm in 8 lakh acres in the next four years. Permission would be accorded for another 10 lakh acres if target was achieved in time, the Minister added. He said this could be cultivated in three acres.
Stating that oil palm would not have pest problem or monkeys damaging it, Mr. Niranjan Reddy said that it would cost ₹1.2 lakh for oil palm cultivation and government would offer ₹30,000 subsidy. The yield would be 12 tonnage per acre and oil companies would directly buy from farmers. Oil palm industry will be established near Narmeta, he added.
Mr. Harish Rao said that except paddy and sugarcane any other crop could be cultivated as inter crop in oil palm. He called upon the farmers to come forward to take up oil palm cultivation voluntarily.
Lok Sabha member K. Prabhakar Reddy and others were present.
