Context: The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has made Aadhaar mandatory for oil palm farmers to claim government subsidy, which will be directly transferred into their bank accounts under the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).
National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP): Overview
- Launched in: 2021
- Type of scheme: Centrally Sponsored Scheme
- Nodal ministry: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
- Financial outlay: Rs. 11,040 crores
- Aim: For substantial increase in oil palm cultivation and crude palm oil production.
- Targets: To increase the area of oil palm to 10 lakh hectares from 3.5 lakh by 2025-26 .
- To increase the Crude Palm Oil production from 0.27 lakh tonnes to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26.
- Key features: There are two major focus areas of the Scheme.
- Price assurance: The assurance to the farmers will be in the form of the viability gap funding and the industry will be mandated to pay 14.3% of the Crude Palm Oil (CPO) price.
- Assistance for inputs/interventions: A substantial increase has been made for planting material for oil palm and this has increased from Rs 12,000 per ha to Rs. 29000 per ha. Further substantial increase has been made for maintenance and inter-cropping interventions, establishment of seed gardens, nurseries, micro irrigation, bore well/pumpset/water harvesting structure, vermicompost units, solar pumps, harvesting tools, custom hiring centre cum harvester Groups, farmers and officers training, and for replanting of old oil palm gardens etc.
- Special focus on the North east region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with a focus on increasing the area and productivity of oilseeds and Oil Palm.
About Oil Palm:
- It is an edible vegetable oil derived from the fruit of the oil palms.
- It is used in food manufacturing, beauty products, biofuel, and cookies.
- It is of two types:
- Crude palm oil, used for cooking.
- Palm kernel oil, used for industrial purposes.
- India is the fifth largest oilseed crop producing country in the world, India is also one of the largest importers of vegetable oils.
- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Kerala are major oil palm-growing States and contributing to 98% of the total production.
- Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil.
- Indonesia and Malaysia together account for almost 90% of the global palm oil production.