Tripura: Minister Ratan Lal Nath attends international conference on oil palm cultivation
Minister of Power, Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare and Election Department Ratan Lal Nath recently visited the international conference on oil palm cultivation held at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. He had also visited the international research centre for oil palm to understand the technological advancements taking place in the field of this particular crop and how Tripura could benefit from them.
“Oil palm is one of the profitable crops now in use by the farmers of India. Already, oil palm plantations have been started in our state as part of a special drive. After attending the international oil palm conference held in Kuala Lumpur, I became aware of different aspects of oil palm cultivation, especially the international demand patterns and supply chains”, Ratan Lal Nath wrote in his social media post recently.
2,000 hectares of land will be expanded for oil palm cultivation with the financial help of the Central Government, out of which plantation is completed on 47 hectares of land located in various parts of the state.
A total of 18 officers from the Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Department of Tripura have received training from ICAR-IIOPR (Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research) and are now imparting training as master trainers.
Oil palm produces 10-46 times more oil per hectare compared to other oilseed crops such as mustard, with exponential applications. Thus, it has enormous potential for promotion of its cultivation. Oil Palm cultivation requires less input than other commercial oil seed farming. Cost of Oil Palm cultivation is less as compared with other oil seed cultivation.
