Fillip to oil palm cultivation in Telangana

Hyderabad: Oil palm cultivation will get a big boost in Telangana soon. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has approved the oil palm crop extension project at a cost of Rs 4,800 crore.

He announced that farmers would be given 50 per cent subsidy to cultivate oil palm in the State, at a review meeting on Monday at Pragathi Bhavan on the methods to increase oil palm cultivation.

He said oil palm cultivation is possible only in areas where there is a continuous availability of water. Due to increase in irrigation water facility and 24x7 uninterrupted power supply in the State, KCR urged farmers to utilise the opportunity and go in for oil palm cultivation in a big way. He disclosed that the National Re-assessment Committee had identified 25 districts in the State as convenient for cultivating oil palm.

The CM wanted oil palm should be cultivated in eight lakh acres in Telangana. Along with the State Oilfed several national and international companies are coming forward to set up oil palm nurseries and processing plants at their cost. Oil palm cultivating lands would be formed into zones and handed over to the companies. He said as on date oil palm is cultivated in 38,000 acres in Khammam, Nalgonda and Suryapet districts.

The meeting decided to cultivate oil palm in 8,14,270 Acres in Nirmal, Mahbubabad, Kamareddy, Warangal Rural, Nizamabad, Siddipet, Bhoopalpally, Peddapally, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Jagtial, Mancherial, Asifabad, Suryapet, Jangaon, Mulugu, Nalgonda, Warangal Urban, Wanaparthy, Nagarkurnool, Narayanpet, Sircilla, Gadwal, Mahbubnagar and Kothagudem districts.