India plans to expand palm plantations to 1 mln ha, increase palm oil production

The Indian government plans to increase crude palm oil production from 0.35 tonnes to 2.3 tonnes by 2029 under the National Oil Palm Mission. The area of plantations will be expanded from 0.6 million to 1 million hectares with the support of private companies and high-tech agriculture.

The goal is to reduce the import of edible oils and support farmers through guaranteed prices, reports Financial Express.

The Ministry of Agriculture has integrated all oil palm companies using application programming interfaces (APIs) and has created a geographical map of palm plantations in the country. The National Oil Palm Mission was launched in August 2021 with an investment of Rs 11 billion. The bulk of the funding is intended to cover the production deficit and financial assistance in purchasing planting material.

As part of the mission, the government will also provide price assurance to oil palm farmers for fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production, which will protect farmers from fluctuations in global crude palm oil prices.

According to the Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research, the projected potential for oil palm plantations in 2020 was 2.8 million hectares. Palm plants start producing oil after four years, with maximum yields achieved in the eighth year.

India imports about 57% of its annual edible oil consumption. The Vegetable Oil Exporters Association of India (SEA) yesterday confirmed a record palm oil import of 955,700 tonnes in June this year, the highest in 11 months.

Tags: India, palm oil