A pilot to extend oil palm cultivation to new districts in the State has taken off with planting of oil palm saplings over 98 acres.
The project was proposed over 2,717 acres in Nirmal, Mancherial, Mahabubabad and the erstwhile Mahabubnagar districts. The administrative sanction for planting the saplings and taking up cultivation over 1,000 acres with drip irrigation was already given, a release said after a meeting of oil palm advisory committee presided by Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy here on Monday.
Oil palm cultivation in Telangana was presently taken up by National Food Security Mission – Oil Palm with a subsidy of ₹ 30,800 per acre for the first four years. The actual per acre cost of cultivation was ₹ 60,000 to ₹ 70,000, including drip irrigation and labour charges, for four years.
The oil palm processing companies that were allotted different zones of cultivation will supply saplings and fertilizers to farmers for four years.
The meeting had the participation of farmers, company representatives, committee members comprising MLAs of Devarakadra and Sirpur-Kagaznagar, Agriculture Commissioner, Horticulture Director and Oilfed chairman and managing director. The deliberations were held to discuss steps to extend oil palm cultivation to new districts and problems faced by farmers and companies.
