New Delhi: The Cabinet approved the National Mission on Edible Oils — Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) with a financial outlay of Rs 11,040 crore to promote the domestic cultivation of oil palm in the next five years and reduce the country’s dependence on imports. The decision comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the new Central scheme on August 15 in his Independence Day speech.
Central Govt share to be Rs 8,844 crore
Of the total outlay, Rs8,844 crore would be the Central government’s share while Rs2,196 crore would be states’ share
The scheme will subsume the current National Food Security Mission-Oil Palm programme
It aims to cover oil palm in an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectare by 2025-26 and thereby reaching the target of 10 lakh hectares, Tomar said
Due to the heavy dependence on imports for edible oils, it is important to make efforts for increasing their domestic production in which increasing area and productivity of oil palm plays an important part, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, briefing about the decision taken at the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Modi.
Will be game-changer for creating aatmanirbhar bharat
The decision on National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm will be a game-changer when it comes to helping oil palm farmers and creating an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. —Narendra Modi, Prime minister
Tomar said it was in line with the vision to infuse ‘aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) in the country. There was a detailed discussion on “doubling farmers’ income” at the meeting, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said.
Under the scheme, the Centre will ensure that farmers are not affected with market fluctuations, Tomar said.AGENCIES