Eluru: Officials advised to focus on oil palm development programme

Eluru : District collector Prasanna Venkatesh on Friday reviewed the progress of oil palm crop, plant distribution, cultivation and other issues with the horticulture officials and the representatives of oil palm companies.

Speaking on the occasion, the collector said that horticultural crops are grown in 45 lakh hectares,’ oil palm is grown in 75,705 hectares. Eluru district is leading in the country in oil palm production, he said.

Steps should be taken to further increase the oil palm crop area. He said the Horticulture Department issued guidelines to distribute 9,57,360 oil palm plants from its own nursery or other nurseries to 5 oil palm companies in the district under the oil palm development programme.

The allotted company should raise oil palm nurseries at its own cost and distribute them to the farmers under its jurisdiction to grow indigenous or imported oil palm seed plants.

They should distribute oil palm plants to the farmers at the rate of 143 plants per hectare as per government norms. The government directed them to sell the indigenous plant at Rs 133 and the imported plant at Rs 193. Farmers have to register their details at the respective Rythu Bharosa Kendras to get oil palm plants.

The details of farmers, area, required plants etc., will be received by the concerned horticulture officers, and after examining them, the horticulture officers will submit the report to the district collector and get permission to distribute the plants.

The respective companies should provide details of farmers, who received the plants to horticulture officials. For the development of horticultural crops, the staff should conduct a ‘garden school’ programme, conduct soil tests in suitable areas for oil palm crops, examine the deficiencies of micronutrients in them and strive to achieve more yield by providing them.

Moreover, oil palm companies should focus on research and development activities to achieve high productivity of oil palm, natural farming, use of organic fertilisers, etc., to achieve high yield at low cost.

Deputy Director of Parks Department K Ravikumar, officials of Horticulture Department, representatives of Andhra Pradesh Oil Fed, Godrej Agrovet, Patanjali Foods, 3F Oil Palm, Navbharat Companies and dignitaries were present.