The launch of Oil Palm Project, Manipur
As part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative and on the recommendation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up Oil Palm Missions in North-Eastern region, the Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh, launched the Oil Palm Project in the State on 12th November, 2020, via video conferencing.
PM Narendra Modi had previously appealed to farmers of Manipur and North-Eastern States to adopt Oil Palm plantation in a big way to support Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme to reduce the import of edible oils, which puts pressure on our Forex reserves.
This project is taken up under the National Mission on Oilseed and Oil Palm, and aims to make India self-sufficient in edible oils, even export to other countries.
Around 66,652 hectares of suitable land was identified by the Climate Assessing Departments to cultivate the oil Palm with seeds procured from Mizoram and Andhra Pradesh.
Importance of Palm Oil
Oil Palm is a highly versatile and hardy crop. It is a popular cooking oil with unique and wide-ranging properties.
Oil Palms also produce more oil per hectare of land than any other oil producing crop. In addition, its production requires less energy, as well as less fertilizers and pesticides.
It may be mentioned that the Oil Palm Mission Manipur was constituted on August 20, 2020, with the Joint Director of Agriculture as the Mission Director and 3 technical staff as members, supported by a Consultant.
A Sub-Committee on Oil Palm was also constituted with the Principal Secretary to Health as the Chairman.
