Cut in import duty to discourage ryots from taking up oil palm plantation: Tummala

HYDERABAD
The Centre's move to reduce import duty on palm oil (all edible oils) from 27.5% to 16.5% would discourage farmers from taking up oil palm cultivation, Minister for Agriculture Tummala Nageswara Rao said on Saturday.
He requested the Centre to review its decision in the interests of farmers and for promotion of edible oil plantation crop to protect local farmers' interests. On Friday, the Centre reduced customs duty on the crude palm, sunflower and soya oils to bring down the import duty.
Mr. Rao stated that the oil palm farmers had been demanding for a long time to increase the import duty from 27.5% to 40% to make their cultivation of the edible oil crop remunerative. However, the Centre had reduced the duty in the name of bringing down the food prices. The move would bring down the prices of oil palm bunches, presently at ₹21,000 per tonne affecting the returns drastically.
The cut in import duty would make farmers who were planning to take to oilpalm cultivation have second thoughts, would affect the extent of the plantation crop and would become a hurdle in the plans to achieve self reliance in the matter of edible oils. He addressed a letter to the Union Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal and Minister of Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan to review the Centre's decision.
On the green manure seed supply, the minister said over 56,262 quintals of seed was purchased by nearly 1.18 lakh farmers so far against the 89,302 quintals positioned in Agros Rythu Seva Kendras and PACSs.
Against the indent placed for 'jeeluga' seed (sesbania), the National Seed Corporation had supplied 750 kits (5 kg each) of 5 varieties of green manure used in other States. It was ready to supply another 5,000 kits containing one-kg each of jeeluga, jute, cluster beans and maize and half-kg each of jowar and cowpea seed used in other States as green manure to improve the soil fertility. The cost of each kit is ₹635.

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