Telangana Should Lead In Oil Palm Crop: Minister

Telangana Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao today directed officials to ensure that the State remained a national leader in oil palm cultivation.

Chairing a review meeting at the Secretariat, the minister said that oil palm cultivation had already been initiated on 16,729 acres this year, and called for proactive measures to meet the State's expansion goals by March.

He said that achieving the cultivation targets set by the government was very important.

Pointing to the rise in prices of oil palm, Thummala urged officials to implement awareness programs to motivate farmers to engage in oil palm cultivation to benefit from the better prices.

To support farmers and boost processing capacity, Rao also instructed officials to complete the Narmetta oil palm processing unit in Siddipet district by June 1.

He also directed them to immediately initiate tenders for setting up processing facilities at the Beechpally and Kallur warehouses.

These initiatives are expected to benefit farmers in newly designated oil palm cultivation districts, and create opportunities for new entrants into the sector.

The minister also addressed concerns regarding electricity supply. He instructed officials of the Cooperative Electricity Supply Association Limited, Sircilla (CESS), to provide reliable and uninterrupted power supply for both farmers and the power loom industry. He also instructed the officials to promptly replace bad transformers to avoid disruptions.

Rao also stressed that the Handloom Abhaya Hastamu scheme needed to be implemented in a timely manner, and urged officials to organize awareness programs for weavers to facilitate its swift execution.