The government is providing financial assistance to oil palm farmers across the country, including Odisha, under the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP). This initiative aims to support the entire oil palm cultivation value chain, from planting to post-harvest infrastructure, and was detailed by Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Ramnath Thakur, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
The mission offers a wide range of financial support components, supplemented by a price assurance mechanism known as the Viability Gap Payment (VGP) to protect farmers from price fluctuations and ensure remunerative returns.
A detailed statement of the component-wise financial assistance under NMEO-OP is as follows:
- Planting Material: For the first year, farmers receive ₹20,000/ha for indigenous seedlings and ₹29,000/ha for imported seedlings, which includes transport costs.
- Management Support: During the four-year gestation period, an assistance of ₹42,000/ha is provided to farmers in General States, while those in the North East Region (NER) receive ₹50,000/ha.
- Seed Gardens and Nurseries: A one-time subsidy is available for establishing new seed gardens with a capacity of 10 lakh seedlings per year. The subsidy is ₹80.00 lakh for the Rest of India (RoI) and ₹100.00 lakh for the NER. For nurseries, the assistance is ₹40.00 lakh for RoI and ₹50.00 lakh for NER.
- Irrigation and Water Management: Drip irrigation support is provided as per the norms of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). For bore wells, pump sets, water harvesting structures, and vermi-compost units, assistance is aligned with Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) guidelines, while solar pumps are supported under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) norms.
- Machinery Support: Financial aid is extended for various harvesting tools, including cutters (₹2,500 per unit), motorized chisels (₹15,000 per unit), and portable ladders (₹5,000 per unit). Assistance is also provided for chaff cutters (₹50,000 per unit), wire mash (₹20,000 per unit), and tractors with trolleys (₹200,000 per unit).
- Custom Hiring Centres: A one-time grant of ₹25.00 lakh per unit is provided for custom hiring centres to cover equipment, tools, training, and maintenance.
- Training: Financial support is allocated for training farmers, input dealers, and officers. A batch of 30 farmers receives ₹30,000 per two-day training, and a batch of 20 officers receives ₹40,000 for a two-day training.
- Replanting: A one-time grant of 50% of the cost, at a rate of ₹250 per plant, is offered for replanting old oil palm gardens after 25-30 years of age.
- Research & Development: Need-based support is extended to ICAR, SAUs, and CAU to promote research in the sector.