Mega oil palm plantation programme under NMEO-OP held in Pasighat, Arunachal

 A CORRESPONDENT

PASIGHAT: A mega oil palm plantation programme under the National Mission on Edible Oil and Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) was conducted at the Moruk area of Remi Village in Bilat Circle in East Siang on Saturday, along with a public awareness meeting with farmers and other stakeholders at the community hall of Mirem Village. It was organized by the Department of Agriculture, GoAP, in collaboration with Patanjali Food Ltd. (PFL), Zone III Oil Palm Division.

East Siang DC, Tayi Taggu, and District Agriculture Officer, Opang Moyong, planted saplings as part of the ceremonial plantation in the plantation plot of progressive farmer Lenzing Eko. State Head Patanjali Foods Ltd., Milan Borah, ZPM, Mirem, Yaken Taloh, HGB Mirem, Taham Taggu, District Oil Palm Nodal Officer (Dept. of Agriculture), Naking Nonang, and ADO Bilat S.K. Sharma were also present.

DC Tayi Taggu, addressing the public awareness meeting organized at Mirem Dere, urged the farmers to come forward to take up cash crop cultivation of oil palm as this was the right time to avail of the planting materials and other inputs on government subsidy to support their venture in taking up oil palm cultivation. He also urged the farmers to seek the support of subject matter experts from the Agriculture Department, etc., in taking up the cultivation of cash crop oil palm, which can fetch remunerative income for the farmers, thus boosting the rural economy.

Earlier, District Agriculture Officer, O. Moyong, said that Oil palm cultivation is a remunerative and sustainable income-generating cash crop farming that is less labour intensive and will yield income for the farmers very early. In this regard, the state government has signed an MoU with Patanjali Food Ltd. to ensure that farmers receive good remuneration with the provision of a buy-back policy after fruiting begins. The Processing Unit at Niglok will utilise all the Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) and produce produced by the farmers of the District as per the MoU. The DAO also advised adopting intercropping of oil palm with crops like Ginger and vegetables and adopting scientific farming by following a "package of practises" to boost production.

Progressive farmer Olo Dai from Berung Village also shared his experiences, adding that it has fetched him a regular source of income since the FFB was purchased by Patanjali Food Ltd. (PFL) on maturity and free of market hazards as a remunerative price is paid as per the MoU agreement between the State Government and PFL. The meeting was also attended by ADO, Osinam Tapak, Agriculture field staff, Village Secretary John Messar, HGB, GBs, PRI members, farmers, and members of Mirem Village, among others.

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