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Cluster approach by growers will help in the expansion of oil palm crop in Karnataka, according to HS Shivakumar, Additional Director of Horticulture (Oil Palm Development Programme), Karnataka.
In an informal chat with BusinessLine on the sidelines of an interactive meeting with oil palm growers of Dakshina Kannada district at Puttur (55 km from Mangaluru) on Friday, he said Karnataka produces around 15,000 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) of oil palm from 10,400 hectares of land.
Acreage jumps
Stressing the need for adopting cluster approach for expanding oil palm cultivation in the State, he said the districts such as Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Bidar have seen good increase in the area under oil palm cultivation in the last two-three years because of this approach.
If the cultivation of this crop is given a boost under the cluster approach, it will help in the easy procurement and processing of FFBs in the processing units. (FFBs can not be used directly. Processing units are needed for the production of palm oil.)
He said that three companies are assigned the task of collecting FFBs from farmers in the State. They procure FFBs from growers for every 15 days.
Stable income
Though the margin is less compared to other crops such as arecanut, oil palm assures regular income to the farmer. It is advisable for farmers to take up oil palm cultivation at least on a minimum of 1 acre of land, he said.
Padmaraj J Vardhaman, Assistant General Manager of 3F Oil Palm Agrotech Pvt Ltd, said that his company was given the task of procuring oil palm in 13 districts of the State in April 2017. These districts are spread over northern and coastal Karnataka region.
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