Northeast to become palm oil hub of India: Union Agriculture Minister NS Tomar
GUWAHATI:
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar along with Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) G. Kishan Reddy and several other dignitaries deliberated significance of the ambitious National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) in Guwahati in the ‘Business Summit for North Eastern State”, on Tuesday.
The summit stressed on growth of agriculture in the Northeast with special emphasis on the sectors like oil palm, bamboo development, and many others. During the event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed for Bamboo FPO Agreement.
Speaking at the summit, Tomar gave an overview of the budget outlay, plans and other initiatives for the farmers to promote palm cultivation in the region, including special packages and assistance for NE states. He also added that the goal of the ambitious NMEO-OP is to turn the North-East into the oil palm hub of the country.
Tomar further informed that about a total of 28 lakh hectares of land is available across the nation for palm oil cultivation. Out of these, 9.62 lakh hectares is available in the Northeast alone. Tomar mentioned about the vast potential area of Northeast, which led the Centre to approve the NMEO-OP worth Rs.11 thousand crores. It will help to provide employment opportunities and focusing on the all-round development of these regions, he added.
The Union Agriculture Minister thanked the Assam government for providing logistical support and mentioned that the new scheme will pave the way towards self-sufficiency in edible oils and put India on a road of “aatmarnirbharta”.
Speaking at the summit, DONER Minister G Kishan Reddy appreciated the central government vision of making India self-sufficient in edible oil production, which will be beneficial to the farmers and also pave way for the development of the region.
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