KHAMMAM: The Telangana government plans to expand oil palm cultivation to an additional 4,000 acres this year in the erstwhile Khammam district and provide subsidies to farmers to grow the crop.
It wants to cultivate oil palm in a total of seven lakh acres across the State. Currently, the crop is cultivated in 40,000 acres in Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts.
Considering its benefits, the government plans to help chilli and cotton farmers switch to oil palm by providing them with subsidies. According to Horticulture Officer J Mariyanna, the Horticulture Department is providing an yearly subsidy of Rs 12,000 on fertilisers and plants, and a three-year subsidy for those with over five acres. It would also give Rs 60,000 subsidy per acre for three years to farmers who have an National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) job card and under five acres. Mariyanna said the department is conducting awareness programmes for farmers in this regard.
A major benefit of cultivating oil palm is inter-crop plantation. K Ramakrishna, a farmer, reaps 12 tonnes of palm oil yield per acre every year and each tonne fetches him Rs 10,904. The high returns is why more farmers are interested in cultivating oil palm, but the crop needs a lot of water.The State government has set up two palm oil factories in Aswaraopet and Dammapet mandals in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, each with a crushing capacity of 30 tonnes per hour.