KHAMMAM: In a major boost to India’s agricultural sector, Telangana has taken the lead by establishing the country’s first-ever modern oil palm seed garden. Developed by Godrej Agrovet Limited in partnership with Malaysia, this high-tech seed garden was officially inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao at a newly built 113-acre integrated complex in Anjanapuram, Khammam district.
Until now, India did not have a dedicated, advanced seed garden for oil palm, forcing farmers and local industries to rely heavily on imports from nations like Indonesia and Malaysia. This milestone facility changes the game by making premium, indigenous seeds available locally, paving the way for complete self-reliance in the industry.
The modern seed garden is part of a larger, state-of-the-art integrated hub that houses a milling unit and an oil refinery under one roof, capable of processing 60 to 120 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) per hour. Top officials, local leaders, and Godrej executives, including Godrej Industries Chairperson Nadir B. Godrej and Agrovet CEO Sunil Kataria, attended the grand launch and inspected the processing and quality control units.
Government Initiatives and Economic Directives
Speaking at the event, Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka emphasized the need to connect agriculture with processing industries to ensure a stable income for farmers. He pointed out that while Telangana’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is around ₹17 lakh crore, agriculture contributes only 15%, highlighting the financial struggles of farmers. To address this, the state government is offering a subsidy of about ₹52,000 per acre over a four-year period to farmers shifting to oil palm cultivation.
He noted that India currently produces only 12 million tonnes of cooking oil annually against a massive domestic demand, forcing the country to spend ₹1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange every year to import 3 million tonnes. Expanding oil palm cultivation, which remains resilient even during harsh weather conditions like Super El Nino, is vital to achieving self-reliance. He also shared that FFB prices have highly benefited farmers, rising from ₹12,000 per tonne in 2023 to around ₹23,000 today. The Deputy CM assured that the government would soon develop the required road infrastructure through TGIIC and urged Godrej to expand into chilli, cotton, and paddy processing industries in the state.
Telangana Aiming to Become India’s Oil Palm Hub
Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao stated that the Telangana government is committed to transforming the state into the country’s oil palm hub. Currently, oil palm is grown across 3 lakh acres in the state, and the government aims to expand this to 10 lakh acres within the next two to three years. He noted that while 90% of India’s oil palm cultivation happens in the Telugu states, the country needs to scale up from the current 15 lakh acres to 70 lakh acres nationally to meet total cooking oil needs.
The newly inaugurated Godrej facility is Telangana’s fourth operational oil palm factory, and six more factories are scheduled to open soon. The Minister highlighted that the new integrated center will act as a one-stop solution for farmers—offering quality saplings, fertilizers, scientific farming guidelines, training, and tools. He mentioned that by adopting scientific methods, farmers can achieve yields of 15 to 16 tonnes per acre. Minister Tummala also offered additional land to the Godrej group if they wished to set up more industries in Khammam, emphasizing that agricultural growth is the key to Telangana’s rural prosperity.
Deputy Editor, Prime Post
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