New Delhi, Jan 7: Despite protests in Northeast, Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday batted for oil palm farming stating that it will play a major role to make India self-reliant on edible oil.
He said it will hugely benefit the farmers. The Northeast has nine lakh hectares of land and it is suitable for oil palm production, he said quoting the ICAR.
Tomar and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeastern Region G Kishan Reddy had co-chaired a meeting virtually on Thursday to review the progress of various schemes of the Centre in the Northeast.
The Agriculture Ministers of the region discussed threadbare the issues and challenges facing them. The protests against oil palm farming in the region are on environmental and socio-economic grounds. Earlier, Lok Sabha member, Agatha Sangma of the ruling National People’s Party in Meghalaya had voiced her concerns.
Reddy suggested that a task force be formed with representatives from the Agriculture Ministry, DoNER and the state governments to ensure that the schemes of the Agriculture Ministry are saturated for the Northeast. The schemes can be customized to address the unique nature and the nuances encountered in the region, he said.
Tomar assured that the Centre will do everything in its capacity to ensure that the income of farmers of the Northeast is doubled.
The Agriculture and the Commerce Ministries are working together to tap such opportunities and solve the logistic problems faced by the states. He requested the state governments to focus on natural farming. He congratulated Sikkim and the other states on their achievements in organic farming.
