Agriculture Minister Atul Bora champions palm oil to cut reliance on edible oil imports

Guwahati, Sept 12: The Assam government has reasserted its commitment to promoting palm oil cultivation, viewing it as a crucial step toward achieving self-sufficiency in edible oil production.

Singling out the import of edible oil as a major area of concern for the country, Agriculture Minister Atul Bora said that palm cultivation “will go a long way” in reducing Assam’s vis-à-vis the country’s dependency on edible oil exports.

“The government’s primary goal is to achieve self-sufficiency in edible oil through enhanced palm oil cultivation, which is the need of the hour. Under the National Mission for Edible Oil—Oil Palm, we aim to realise this objective," Bora stated at the event held in Cachar district on Wednesday.

On the concluding day of his three-day visit to Cachar district, Bora also took a hands-on approach to the stance by initiating the cultivation of palm trees on a local farmer’s two-hectare plot in Salganga, located in the Udharbond constituency.

However, the plan to expand palm oil cultivation in the Northeast, sanctioned by the Centre in August 2023, has had its fair share of opposition.

A group of MPs from the region, including Congress members Pradyut Bordoloi, Abdul Khaleque, and Gaurav Gogoi from Assam, along with Vincent Pala from Meghalaya, National People's Party MP Agatha Sangma from Meghalaya, and Naga People's Front MP Lorho S. Pfoze from Manipur, have voiced serious concerns over the Centre’s plan.

Earlier, they had petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arguing that the region's ecological conditions are ill-suited for palm oil plantations. The MPs also warned of potential deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity resulting from such expansions.

Environmental experts too have echoed these concerns. A recent study by the Centre for Science and Environment predicts that oil palm cultivation could result in the loss of 2.5 million hectares of forest in India by 2030. The study also notes that oil palm plantations store less carbon than natural forests, potentially worsening climate change.

Despite the warnings, the Assam government is committed to expanding palm oil cultivation to reduce India's reliance on imported edible oils, even as it addresses the environmental concerns.