HYDERABAD: Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy, on Thursday, informed the Assembly that the State government was keen on encouraging farmers to take up profit-making oil palm cultivation in a big way, considering the growing demand for edible oils and their rise in imports.He made these remarks while responding to queries raised by members Balka Suman, G Balaraju and others during the question hour of the Assembly session.
“A total of Rs 79,000 crore is spent on oil imports by the Central government. Of this, Rs 40,000 crore accounts for palm oil imports,” the Minister said. The State government had begun expanding palm cultivation even before the Centre decided to encourage the same in 18 lakh hectares across the country, he added. “Telangana has been taking up awareness drives to motivate farmers to cultivate palm crop. As many as 26 districts of the State has the suitable weather for palm cultivation,” he said.
The Minister said that Telangana has already invited proposals from oil companies to allocate areas for the purchase of crop from farmers. “We have evaluated the credentials of the firms that have come forward and will complete the zonal allotment once the CM approves,” he said.
Don’t hinder progress: Min to upa-sarpanches
In response to another question, Errabelli advised the upa-sarpanches of all the villages of the State to discharge their duties as per the Panchayat Raj Act. He warned them not to hinder development of the villages, and asked the sarpanches to submit the details of erring upa-sarpanches to him