Hyderabad: Deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka on Monday said oil palm cultivation provides farmers with assured income even under adverse climatic conditions such as El Nino and drought. “To encourage cultivation, the govt is providing subsidies ranging from ₹4,000 to ₹45,000 per acre. India requires nearly 25 lakh metric tonnes of palm oil annually but currently produces only about 12 lakh metric tonnes. As a result, the country depends heavily on imports, leading to a massive outflow of foreign exchange,” he said after inaugurating the Godrej Integrated Palm Oil Industry, established at an investment of nearly ₹300 crore in Anjanapuram village of Konijerla mandal in Khammam district.“If India could produce more palm oil domestically, it would strengthen the national economy while significantly benefiting farmers,” he further said. Addressing the public meeting, the deputy chief minister said that in 1991–92, the then chief minister of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy, first promoted oil palm cultivation in the state. He recalled that surveys conducted at the time had identified areas such as Aswaraopeta and Sathupalli in the then Khammam district as highly suitable for oil palm cultivation. The seeds of that vision, he said, have now grown into a full-fledged integrated industry.Highlighting the increasing profitability of oil palm, Bhatti said the price of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) increased from around ₹12,500 per tonne in 2023 to nearly ₹23,000 per tonne at present, clearly reflecting the growing economic value of the crop. He encouraged farmers to seize the opportunity to achieve long-term prosperity. “The govt will sanction road connectivity through the Industrial Infrastructure Corporation to support the industry’s growth,” he said while responding to requests for infrastructure improvement.He noted that the project goes beyond nursery development and includes R&D, seed genetics, seed gardens, nurseries, milling, and refining facilities, all being established over nearly 113 acres. Congratulating the farming community, he urged farmers to adopt oil palm cultivation on a larger scale and take full advantage of the opportunities it offers. “Farmers should not remain confined to traditional crop cultivation but should diversify into commercial crops and value-added agricultural products through industrial processing. Only then will the slogan, ‘farmer is the king’ become a reality,” he said.
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