*Special-Story*
• *Om Dahariya*
*Assistant Public Relations Officer*
*Farmers will get a permanent source of income from palm cultivation*
*Income of two and a half to 3 lakh rupees per hectare per year*
*Plant once, get continuous production from the third year for 30 years*
*Grant of one-one lakh rupees from the central and state governments*
*New direction is being given to palm cultivation in the state with the technical help of the Horticulture Department*
Raipur, August 09, 2025/ Palm cultivation is becoming a permanent source of income for the farmers of the state. The state government is promoting palm and other horticultural crops to provide additional income to the farmers. At the same time, keeping in mind the demand and productivity of palm oil, farmers are also being encouraged for palm cultivation. For this, the state and central governments have started a joint campaign under the National Oilseed and Oil Palm Mission. Under which, planting of palm plants has been done in an area of more than 2 thousand 682 hectares. Palm oil is the most used vegetable oil. It is used in biscuits, chocolates, Maggi, snacks and non-food products like soap, cream, detergents, biofuels etc. A grant of one-one lakh rupees is also being given by the Central Government and the State Government to encourage palm farmers. Also, free training is also given to the farmers.
*Palm planting in 3.5 lakh hectare area across the country*
The Central Government has given a new direction to the production of palm oil through the National Mission on Edible Oil with the aim of reducing the import dependence on edible oils of the country and increasing the income of farmers. Under the National Oilseed and Palm Oil Mission, palm cultivation has been done on 3.5 lakh hectare land across the country so far. According to the Union Ministry of Agriculture, the domestic production of palm oil has increased by 15 percent in the year 2024-25. While the government has set a target to reach its production to 28 lakh tonnes by the year 2029-30. The central government is working in the direction of generating new means of employment and income from palm cultivation in the tribal-dominated areas like Bastar and Dantewada of Chhattisgarh, especially Telangana, Assam, Mizoram, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
*Palm cultivation is being done in 17 districts of Chhattisgarh*
Under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai and under the guidance of Agriculture Minister Shri Ramvichar Netam, the state government is encouraging farmers for cultivation of horticultural crops to increase the income of farmers. The state government has made efforts for palm cultivation in 17 districts of the state. Palm cultivation is being done mainly in Bastar (Jagdalpur), Kondagaon, Kanker, Sukma Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada, Mahasamund, Raigarh, Sarangarh-Bilaigarh, Jajgir-Chapa, Durg, Bemetara, Jashpur, Surguja, Korba and Bilaspur districts in the state. In the state, palm plants have been planted in about 1,600 hectare area of 1,150 farmers in the last four years. At the same time, this year, palm has been planted in 1,089 hectare area of 802 farmers.
Farmer Shri Rajendra Mehar of village Chakradharpur of Raigarh tehsil has planted 570 oil palm plants in his 10 acre field with the help of the Horticulture Department. Shri Mehar told that this land was lying vacant for a long time and he was considering taking horticultural crops for a long time. Due to lack of technical information, they could not start, but after contacting the Horticulture Department, they not only got the necessary guidance, but also got information about the benefits of palm cultivation. Inspired by this, he decided to do palm cultivation. Similarly, palm cultivation is being done in an area of 611 hectares in Mahasamund district.
*Production starts from the third year*
The Horticulture Department official said that under the Oil Palm scheme, 143 plants worth Rs 29 thousand per hectare are being given free of cost. The total cost of planting, fencing, irrigation, maintenance and inter-cropping is about four lakh rupees per hectare. A grant of one lakh rupees is being provided by the Government of India and one lakh rupees by the State Government. Bank loan facility is also available for the remaining amount. In addition to this, provision has also been made for grant for maintenance of the garden, drip irrigation, inter-cropping, borewell, pump set, water harvesting system vermi compost unit, palm cutter, wire mesh, motorized chisel, chop cutter, tractor trolley. The production of oil palm crop starts from the third year and continues for about 25 to 30 years. With the increase in the age of the plants, the yield also increases. There is a possibility of getting 15 to 20 tonnes of yield every year from one hectare, from which the farmer can earn an annual income of two and a half to three lakh rupees.
*No worries about sales, firm arrangements for purchase at support price*
Due to sufficient distance between oil palm plants, farmers can also take vegetables or other inter-crops there. For this, subsidy is also being given by the government. Not only this, an additional grant of up to Rs 50 thousand is also being given for borewell mining on planting more than 2 hectares. The Government of India has made arrangements for contracted companies for the sale of the produced crop, which buys the crop from the farmers’ field at the minimum support price. The payment of the crop is done directly into the bank account of the farmers.
Serial number:-3000/Nagesh/Om