By Toki Blah
The Shillong Times Friday August 20, 2021 carried a front-page news item wherein the Union Minister for DoNER, G Kishan Reddy had claimed that the Central Government’s approval for large scale plantation of oil palm in the North Eastern (NE) region will transform the economy of the entire region. Hip Hip Hurray! for the NDA and its promises for the people of this remote region, but the fact is, we have heard too many such tall claims from New Delhi for the last 70 years, with pretty little to show for them, that there is now ample justification for us to consider such statements as mere political rhetoric rather than the well intended and sensible announcements that they ought to be. This DoNER statement came close on the heels of the Union Cabinet decision of August 18 to implement the National Mission on edible oils – Oil Palm.
So far so good, but what’s contentious is that Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali group led Ruchi Soya had already declared its plans to set up and expand its business for massive oil palm plantations in the NE days before this Cabinet decision! A private Company foreseeing and anticipating Union Cabinet decisions; announcing huge investments based on such predictions; announcement made by a God-man with business ambitions and a reputation for close connections to the PMO! This is all too much of a coincidence even for simple minded NE folks to swallow. It smacks of sleazy outsider fore-knowledge or even influence on sensitive Government policy decisions even before they are made. The NE palm oil mission is already beginning to stink of being driven by greedy non-caring agri-business vested interests rather than the Centre’s noble and pious declaration of this being done for the betterment of the economy of the region and its people. These are the instances when we miss the sensible and well thought out knowledge of the erstwhile Planning Commission.
Ever since the central intention of encouraging oil palm cultivation in North East India and the Andaman islands became public knowledge, there has been a spate of public concern verging from scepticism to downright consternation on the suitability, dependability and trustworthiness of the plan for the region and its people. These concerns range from economic issues to environmental anxiety to apprehensions over loss of cultural diversity of the people of the region and the adverse impact such plantations will have on the rich bio diversity of the North East.
People with knowledge and ground experience on the type and unique style of agriculture carried out in the upland areas of the NE are aghast at the prospects of introducing mass mono palm oil cultivation in these hills. There are concerns that the promised economic benefits the palm oil industry would bring to the region are illusionary and that ground reality is just the opposite. It will instead introduce misery, pain and loss of livelihood to our small and marginal farmers. Environmentally it would result in the disappearance of large tracts of our indigenous forests.
Interestingly, the only persons who seem least bothered about these apprehensions are our elected representatives. They just don’t care and apparently all of them would prefer to remain silent spectators. The only politician who has welcomed the proposal is the Chief Minister of Meghalaya. The reason for his enthusiasm is not known but it would be worth his while to look at the havoc such plantations have caused in other places. In Mizoram where experimental plantations had taken place, people are uprooting their palm oil trees and replacing them with other cash crops. Sri Lanka has outright banned palm oil cultivation. I do request our CM to first study the hazards posed by this Central policy before he takes the leap of faith just to please Baba Ramdev and his corny political patrons in the BJP.
Bhakts who read this write-up will immediately brush it off as another anti-Modi rant that springs more from a dislike of the BJP rather than facts as they prevail. So, let’s try and justify what we have said. Let’s try and analyse if palm oil will really bring in the promised manna for our small upland farmers. The tree loves the warm moist tropical conditions of the East Indies and in Indonesia the yield is up to 3 to 4 tonnes of oil per hectare per year. This happens in Indonesian or Malaysian conditions where it rains throughout the year. In the NE where the rainfall might be heavy but falls only for about 6 months in a year with dry chilly winter conditions, the output of oil might drastically drop to only 1 or 2 tonnes per hectare.
In such cases the break-even with the high investments made might just not be there. Trials conducted in all 7 states of the NE have resulted in scientists not recommending oil palm plantation as an alternative plantation for the region. As such it is not a viable cash crop for the NE that is expected to bring in wealth riches for our farmers. Small holdings, a low yield crop, gruelling transportation costs and contract farming for the oil palm is instead beautifully orchestrated for a big profit driven corporation to monopolise the market and squeeze our small farmers. In the beginning Government subsidies and other Government support might lure the farmer into investing through more loans and mortgages, but the low yield and the monopoly market will only result in a debt trap he will never get out of. We might just end up turning our small agriculturists into bondage labourers for some mainland corporate entity.
Let’s take the trial plantations and processing units for palm oil done in Mizoram. In the beginning it began with a strong Government initiative to replace jhum cultivation with some permanent cash crop so as to bring in more income to the farmers. The Mizoram Agriculture Department, the farmers and the processing units all invested heavily in the programme. It soon became apparent from the long gestation period of the crop, 9 to 12 years because of the agro-climatic conditions of the region mentioned above, and the break-even point of more than 15 years, that its cultivation was only meant for big farmers with large holdings. Rich tribals rushed in to invest in land to reap the rich bonanza expected. The traditional land tenure holding system disappeared overnight. The small marginal farmer was squeezed out. Jhum cultivation which the small farmer had traditionally depended for his food security vanished in the blind unrealistic bureaucratic rush of the Government to introduce income generation through monoculture cropping.
Today everyone involved in the experiment in Mizoram is on the lookout for alternate cash crops such as oranges and avocado. The experiment failed. Meghalaya must learn from the bitter experience of the Mizos. There is absolutely no need to rush into this crazy madcap proposal of the Centre. Not at the cost to our farmers and our land tenure system simply to appease some greedy businessman from the mainland whose only interest is profit. Our Autonomous District Councils , with the vast powers they are endowed with through the 6th Schedule must step in to protect our land and its future from such monopolistic land grab attempts.
In conclusion one must also point out the adverse environmental impact Palm oil plantations will have on our fragile eco-system. It is a water guzzling monster which will greatly affect not only the underground water table of our state but the soil nutrients too. The economic life span of a palm oil tree is 25 years and after that the land becomes totally barren and unfit for other cultivation unless heavy investment is made to replenish it. Viable plantations will need thousands of hectares and this same acreage will be turned into a waste land after 25 years. Is this a viable proposition? It is a proposition for a high volume and low value crop, with all its adverse impacts on our fragile ecosystem, that only a top-down insensitive bureaucratic mind can find any merit in.
What Meghalaya really needs are more low volume high value agriculture products. We have our black pepper, pan oil, cinnamon, cardamoms, strawberries, passion fruits and a mix of other agro-forestry based agro-products. These are the rural agro-based products small farmers are comfortable with. Give them more support, easy access to credit, marketing, packaging and value addition. They will form the mainstay for our small landless farmers. They will bring in more sustainable returns without harming the soil, its economic stability and its water level even after several decades of steady yield. I fail to see why we should be so eager to give up our future for the likes of Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali Company.