By Our Staff Reporter
Rishikesh, 9 Aug: At the inception of an unprecedented transformation in the history of Oil Palm in the north-eastern states, Patanjali Foods Limited (formerly known as Ruchi Soya Industries Limited) participated in an “Oil Palm Mega Plantation Drive” in Tinsukia district organised by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Assam, on 8 August.
The Prime Minister launched the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) in August 2021 to enhance the breadth of opportunities by increasing the area under oil palm (highest oil yielding crop) cultivation in India with special focus to north-eastern states. With the continued success of NMEO-OP, MoA&FW had initiated a ‘National Level Mega Oil Palm Plantation Drive’ from 25 July to 5 August, 2023, to give focused emphasis and motivate the farming community for oil palm.
Being one of the largest oil palm plantation companies in India with over 64,000 hectares of area under palm plantation, Patanjali Foods Limited (PFL) participated in Mega Oil Palm Plantation Drives in collaboration with respective state governments. These drives were organised in the allotted 13 districts and 14 blocks of 6 states of India viz. AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Nagaland. The plantation drives also included ceremonial plantation of over 20 hectares by distributing nearly 3,000 seedlings on the respective dates of the event by the Chief Guests and other dignitaries. During the 9 day plantation period (25 July to 5 August 2023), a total of more than 1,200 hectares was planted by distributing over 1.80 lakh seedlings to more than 800 farmers of the 6 states (including 3 North Eastern states).
Marking the success of the huge plantation drive, PFL participated in the “Oil Palm Mega Plantation Drive” event in Tinsukia district on 8 August.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was the Chief Guest in the presence of Swami Ramdev and the Assam Minister of Horticulture. The event was also attended by the MP, MLA, and District Commissioner of Tinsukia district. Other attendees included key persons from line departments of Revenue, Environment of Forest, P&RD, KVK and AAU.
In a gathering of around 4,500 farmers, the Mega Plantation Drive was conducted with a ceremonial planting done by the Chief Minister and Swami Ramdev and other dignitaries/VIPs in farmers’ field in over 1 hectare. A total of 20 hectares was covered under the plantation drive by distributing over 2,800 seedlings to the 25 identified farmers in the district.
Considering the huge potentiality of oil palm in Assam and following its commitment through MoU with State Governments, Patanjali Foods Limited (PFL) has been making all efforts to promote oil palm cultivation in the State to uplift the socio-economic status of the farmers and to increase the edible oils availability of the country. The Company has been allotted 7 districts comprising Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon, Kamrup (Rural & Metro) and Goalpara for development of Oil Palm plantations in the state of Assam.
Patanjali Foods Limited, with its strong execution of oil palm plantation development, has five mills with 155 MT/hr capacity and procurement around 5.0 to 6.00 lakh MT of Fresh Fruit Bunches per year from the farmers. It is projected to cover an area of above 2.50 lakh ha by 2027-28 in 12 states of India (including 5 North-Eastern states).
