Agartala, July 31, 2023: Tripura, along with four other northeastern states, has been chosen by the Central government to participate in a mega plantation drive for oil palm cultivation under the National Mission for Edible Oils.

The states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh join Tripura in this initiative, where the state governments and oil palm processing companies are collaborating to carry out a Mega Oil Palm Plantation drive from July 25 to August 12. The primary objective is to expand oil palm cultivation in the country.

Three prominent oil palm processing companies, namely Patanjali Food Pvt. Ltd., Godrej Agrovet, and 3F Industries, are actively involved in promoting and participating with farmers in their respective states to achieve a record area expansion for oil palm cultivation.

The Government of India launched the National Mission for Edible Oils in August 2021 with the aim of increasing the oil palm production area to 10 lakh ha and boosting the Crude Palm Oil production to 11.20 lakh tonnes by the year 2025-26.

In addition to propelling the growth in edible oil production, the mission is significantly contributing to India’s vision of an ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) by reducing the burden of imports.

Alongside Tripura and the four northeastern states, other major oil palm growing regions such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, and Goa are also participating in this initiative. The concerted efforts by these states are expected to further strengthen India’s position in the edible oils market and foster agricultural self-sufficiency.