National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) was launched in August 2021 with the objective to bring an additional area of 6.8 lakh hectares (lh) under oil palm cultivation in India during 2021- 2026. The area brought under cultivation during 2021-25 in India is only 1.89 lh. Before this mission (till end of FY 2020-21), the area brought under cultivation in India was 3.67 lh, as per the Government of India’s records. The total area under cultivation till the end of FY 2025 becomes 5.56 lh Out of this, 0.683 lh in the North Esat States (except Meghalaya) & 4.877 lh in 9 States in Rest of India (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Telangana). During the last leg of the Mission (FY 2025-26), the government proposed to bring 2.495 lh under cultivation in India. It seems to be a herculean task. Among the 9 states in the rest of India, Andhra Pradesh (AP) & Telangana contribute predominantly and jointly share 63 per cent of the total area under cultivation in India as of now.
Effective area expansion
I think two major factors play important role in achieving sustainable oil palm development through farmers in AP and Telangana: Involvement of the State Government and Department of Horticulture in the State considered oil palm as one of their top priorities and ensured the adoption of the basic requirement, like installation of drip/micro irrigation system in farmers field, before planting of oil palm(as a mandatory practice). These two states take this step as a “Special purpose vehicle” to drive area expansion effectively and aggressively, through Micro Irrigation Project - an independent cell established for the purpose by the State, followed by other supports like free power supply etc. to the farmers, over & above various supports provided by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA & FW) , Govt. of India (G.O.I) under NMEO-OP.
We must remember that bringing effective area under cultivation is more important than bringing area aggressively. Effective area will ensure productivity and assure a good return to farmers, as evidenced in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Farmers of AP & Telangana are getting average Fresh Fruit Bunches ( FFB) yield @ 19- 20 tonnes per hectare. per year from the eighth year onwards. Unfortunately, the average FFB yield per hectare per year in other States is less than 7-8 tonnes on maturity and in turn, poor returns to the farmers. This is mainly due to insufficient irrigation or maintained under rain fed crop condition. This low yield of FFB and its economic returns give a bad impression about the crop in the farming community in the states like Goa, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu , Karnataka, Odisha, Kerala and Gujarat. This low yield (other than crop competition factor) provides setback for slow progress towards crop conversion to oil palm in these states. These states (other than AP and Telangana) should not be in denial mode, because FFB production, productivity and area expansion progress over the decades are poor and the number speaks itself.
Sustainable practices
There is a need to scale up the good practices by processors and farmers, starting from the production of quality seedlings to harvesting of quality fruit bunches & FFB yield/productivity. Ensure that all steps are technically followed during the growing phase & later. Various relevant authorities should verify the details, as available in the respective data base maintained by the State Department, Processors, Farmers & R&D unit. Processors and the State department of Horticulture or Agriculture should jointly advocate for adoption of sustainable practices required for oil palm cultivation to ensure long term food security.
Drive forward
Farmers and processing companies, as such, are in the middle of a good growth phase in AP and Telangana, aided by various government schemes and supports to drive the objective of self-sufficiency in edible oil production. However, the other seven states in the rest of India and the north-eastern States as well are lagging. There is a need to find out the reason of the slow area expansion programme by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare with the help of an independent competent team and drive forward. Undoubtedly, we can bring more than 2.5 lh under oil palm cultivation through land owning farmers every year in India effectively, provided other States follow the footprints of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The author is former CEO – Oil Plam Plantation, Godrej Agrovet Ltd. Views are personal