Govt continuously making efforts to raise area production of palm oil: Tripura horticulture official

Agartala (Tripura), May 8 : Rajiv Ghosh, deputy director of Horticulture Research, Tripura, said the government is continuously making efforts to raise the area production of palm oil.
For increased availability of edible oils in the country and to reduce the import burden, various interventions were taken since 1991-92 through different schemes, the deputy director said.
"National Mission On Edible Oils-Oil Palms (NMEO-OP) has been constituted to put special emphasis upon the palm oil production augmentation in India by the Centre. The domestic demand for edible oils is staggeringly deficient and the cost to the exchequer on account of imports is much. The urgency of scaling up the oil palm area is of the national interest and doesn't need any overemphasis," Rajiv Ghosh, Deputy Director of Horticulture Research Complex, Nagichhera, said.
NMEO-OP is approved with the aim to enhance the edible oilseeds, production, and oils availability in the country by harnessing oil palm area expansion, increasing CPO production, and reducing the import burden on edible oils. The mission will focus on increasing oil production from oil palm.
"The state department of agriculture and officials are to follow the guidelines to develop and grow the production of palm oil," the deputy director said.
The government of India had been with an ambitious target to cover 6.5 lakh hectares in the next five years, against the current area of 3.5 lakh ha for which huge quantities of seedlings are required.
According to the deputy director, Tripura State Horticulture Complex is an amazing centre for the production of palm oil and not only the horticulture of Nagichgera but the district is focused on how the production cultivation of palm oil could be evaluated on an everyday basis in reference to the special attention of the central government to subsidise edible oil import in which palm oil has the maximum share.
According to Rajiv Ghosh, deputy director of Horticulture Research Complex, Nagichhera, two agencies -- Patanjali and Godrej Agrovat -- have already started working in the state of Tripura like planting oil pump nursery in all the districts of Tripura. The sprouts have been imported from Malaysia and preliminary and primary works have been done.
By producing palm oil here in the state and in other states of the nation, the import of edible oil in which maximum share like 28 per cent is palm oil will come down, he added.
"So, this Mission should be an excellent one for the farmers of Tripura which will fetch benefits in short term," the deputy director said.