Hyderabad: The Centre has accorded permission to the state government to cultivate oil palm on 45,250 acres in the state.
Agriculture minister S. Niranjan Reddy addressing a press conference on Saturday said that the Centre had conducted a survey and found that soil in 246 mandals of the state was suitable for cultivation and accorded the permission.
He said that the state government in 2019-20 had taken up cultivation of oil palm
in 2,500 acres on an experimental basis. The permission from the Centre will allow more area to be cultivated under oil palm.
Mr Reddy said, “We are importing 21 million tonnes of palm oil worth Rs 75,000 crore. If the extent of cultivation increases in the state and country as well, we will able to save foreign exchange.”
He said that the state government was encouraging farmers to go in for oil palm cultivation.
