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Oil Palm Mission Will Pave North East Towards Self-Sufficiency : Union Agriculture Minister

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  • NET Web Desk

On Tuesday, October 5, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar along with Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) G. Kishan Reddy and several other dignitaries deliberated significance of the ambitious National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).

Organized in Guwahati, the ‘Business Summit for North Eastern States’ was also attended by Minister of State (MoS) for DoNER, BL Verma; Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture, Shobha Karandlaje; Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Kailash Choudhary; Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Pema Khandu.

During the summit, DoNER Minister G Kishan Reddy informed about the landmark decision undertaken by the government for transforming the Northeastern states as oil palm hub of the nation.

The summit stressed on growth of agriculture in the North East with special emphasis on the sectors like oil palm, bamboo development, and many others. During the event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed for Bamboo FPO Agreement.

Besides, certificates were also distributed to Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs), an initiative to encourage the farmers for the push of Palm Oil cultivation.

This new scheme with special focus on North-Eastern Regions will pave the way towards self-sufficiency in edible oils, thereby landing India into a path of Athmanirbhar Bharat, stated the Union Agriculture Minister.

He further added that Government is committed to protecting the oil palm farmers through the price assurances.

https://twitter.com/PIB_Guwahati/status/1445291507729121281?s=20

The Union Agriculture Minister further informed about a total of 28 lakh hectares of land available across the nation for palm oil cultivation. Out of these, 9.62 lakh hectares is available in the Northeast alone.

He added about the pace of projects being initiated by the Narendra Modi Government, a step to bring these regions in the country’s mainstream for participation into the race of development.

Tomar mentioned about the vast potential area of Northeast, which led the Central Government to approve the National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palms worth Rs.11 thousand crores. It will help to provide employment opportunities and focusing on the all-round development of these regions.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu referred the decision as a game changing opportunity for North Eastern states, a step to boost edible oil cultivation across the regions.

Earlier, the CM clarified that 1.33 lakh hectares has already been identified for taking the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP). However, earlier Khandu informed the Union Agriculture Minister that state wants to escalate the oil palm coverage up to 15,000 hectares in the first year of the announcement of NMEO-OP.

He sought to allay fears over the impact of oil palm cultivation on forests in the State by saying the government would ensure that NMEO-OP is implemented only in wastelands.

Meanwhile, the elected President of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Atul Bora shared that Assam has targeted 17 districts for the Palm tree cultivation across the state.

Its worth mentioning that on August 18, 2021, the Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to launch a new Mission on Oil palm named as National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

The scheme have put special focus on Northeast region with a pegged outlay of Rs. 11,040 crore.

It has been formulated to boost palm oil production in the country and reduce dependence on edible oil imports.

Out of total financial outlay, the North-Eastern Region alone gets a target of 5850 crores, bringing a revolution in this sector across the region.

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