Errabelli bats for oil palm cultivation

Thorrur (Mahabubabad): Telangana government has been promoting oil palm cultivation as it could change the fortunes of the farmers, Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Errabelli Dayakar Rao said.

The Minister laid foundation stone for the oil palm processing unit at Gopalagiri under Thorrur mandal in Palakurthi constituency on Tuesday. The unit is to come up in 82 acres with an estimated cost of Rs 175 crore with a crushing capacity of 60-tonne per hour, he said.

Telangana is in second position in the cultivation of oil palm in the country. The cultivated area was around 33,000 acres before the formation of Telangana. As of now, the area under cultivation is around 1.54 lakh acres, the minister said. Stating that farmers would get anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.50 lakh per acre excluding expenses, Errabelli urged the farmers to take up oil palm cultivation. The State-run Oil Fed will purchase the produce, hence the farmers need not have to worry. He urged the farmers to utilize the subsidy extended by the government to the oil palm cultivation. The oil palm processing unit will provide employment to at least 300 people, the minister said.

Switching to politics, the minister took a dig at the Congress and the BJP. He blamed both the parties for backwardness in the State and country. “Politics is paramount to the BJP and the Congress. On the other hand, the BRS Government has been implementing several welfare and developmental programmes, especially for the growth of agriculture,” Errabelli said, referring to the Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, 24-hour free power supply etc.