Arunachal Pradesh farmers visit oil palm farms

Eluru: A group of 15 farmers from various parts of Arunachal Pradesh visited oil palm farms in West Godavari district on Thursday and Friday, to learn new techniques and best practices in growing oil palm. The visiting team studied how the district farmers have been producing maximum produce.

Andhra Pradesh leads in oil palm cultivation in the country and mandals in West Godavari district are in the forefront in this. The weather conditions in the region are best suited for oil palm and thousands of farmers in this region are cultivating it. 

The Union government recently increased import duty on oil palm, thus resulting in increased income for the farmers growing oil palm in Andhra Pradesh. The Government is also offering substantial subsidy on oil palm cultivation to reduce edible oil imports.

3F Oil Palm Agrotech Pvt Ltd., the leading player in the market has taken initiative to educate oil palm farmers on the new and emerging techniques to grow the crop efficiently and to identify the right time to harvest the yield. 

The company, in consultation with Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research, Pedavegi near here organised a field visit for oil palm farmers from Chhattisgarh.

The Government has increased incentive from Rs 23,000 per hectare to Rs 30,000 from this financial year. The farmers also get a subsidy of Rs 10,000/hectare and free seedling distribution up to 15 hectares. 

The incentives include Rs 30,000/hectare for four years and Rs 7,000/hectare to farmers for growing vegetables as an inter-crop in their oil palm plantations.