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Dr. K. Suresh, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research, Pedavegi, Andhra Pradesh
India’s diverse agro-ecological landscape, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Deccan Plateau in the south, makes it one of the world’s leading agricultural nations. This diversity enables the country to be the largest producer of milk, pulses, spices and jute, and the second-largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, tea, fruits and vegetables. It also supports the cultivation of non-native crops such as oil palm, a high oil yielding perennial crop with immense potential for cultivation under Indian conditions. Oil palm is the highest yielding edible oil tree crop, capable of producing 4-5 tonnes of palm oil and 0.4-0.5 tonnes of palm kernel oil per hectare per year. As demand for edible oils continues to rise, such high productivity per hectare makes oil palm a strategically important crop for enhancing domestic edible oil availability.
Suitable for Indian Conditions
In India, oil palm is grown as an irrigated crop unlike in other countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, where it is grown in very large areas under rainfed conditions. Oil palm is a quintessential humid, tropical crop and requires temperatures between 22-33°C, bright sunlight for at least five hours per day, high humidity of over 80 per cent and evenly distributed rainfall of 150 mm per month or 2,500-4,000 mm per annum for successful growth and yield.
Rainfall distribution in India is uneven and inadequate; hence, the crop is grown with assured irrigation only. Even in the Northeast region (NER), where oil palm is grown under rainfed conditions, the detrimental impact of long dry periods can be reasonably minimised by providing irrigation at intermittent intervals. Oil palm grows best in deep, well-drained loamy soils and adapts well to irrigation systems like drip and micro-sprinkler methods. With a productive life of up to 30 years, oil palm offers a stable and long-term source of income to farmers.
Scope for Expansion
There is enormous scope for oil palm development in India due to the availability of vast stretches of land across diversified agro-climatic zones and the presence of untapped groundwater potential in suitable areas. The crop’s significantly high yields and efficient land utilisation make it a strategic option for increasing domestic edible oil production.
Oil palm, being a relatively new crop in India, has prompted the Government of India (GoI) during 1988, 2006, 2012 and 2020 to constitute various committees to identify potential cultivation areas. The ICAR–DA&FW Committee (2020) re-assessed potential areas through Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), followed by field-level validation. Accordingly, an area of 27.99 lakh hectares has been recommended across 22 states. Efforts are being made to achieve both area expansion and productivity enhancement for sustainable and profitable oil palm cultivation in India, including the NER. At present an area of 5.27 lakh ha is under oil palm cultivation in 16 States. The major oil palm growing States are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Mizoram. The NER has immense potential, with 9.62 lakh hectares identified across the seven States. Presently, oil palm is cultivated on only 0.39 lakh hectares in the region, leaving significant scope for expansion.
Environmental Compatibility
Oil palm is an environmentally friendly crop. In India, no state has reported environmental damage attributable to oil palm cultivation. Owing to its high biomass production, the crop acts as an effective carbon sink, contributing to the mitigation of climate change impacts. In India, oil palm oil palm cultivation is promoted mainly in agricultural lands by replacing low value crops. Its cultivation is not recommended by replacing existing forests. Therefore, these plantations, with a long life cycle, function as a temporary forest and help to improve the environment.
The huge biomass generated in oil palm plantations enhances the soil biological system and improves soil health. Oil palm responds particularly well to scientific management, with water and nutrient management being the most critical agronomic practices. For successful cultivation, growers must adhere to recommended best management practices.
Government Support and Research Backing
The Government of India has continuously been making efforts to increase the area and production of oil palm to boost domestic edible oil availability in the country and reduce the country’s import burden, which also exposes the sector to global price and supply shocks.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research established the Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research (ICAR-IIOPR) inPedavegi, Andhra Pradesh, in 1995 to develop innovations and technologies for enhancing oil palm productivity and sustainability. The Institute has developed best management practices for raising oil palm under irrigated and rainfed conditions. All the technical guidance required for management of oil palm crop is being extended by ICAR-IIOPR. In 2021, the Government of India launched the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) with an outlay of Rs. 11,040 croreto achieve self-sufficiency in edible oils and enhance farmers’ income through a sustainable, long-term crop. With these efforts, around 2.0 lakh ha has been brought under oil palm cultivation during the last 5 years, making the total area covered under this crop to 5.27 lakh ha with annual crude palm oil production of 3.80 lakh tonnes, proving that oil palm is not only suitable but highly productive under Indian agro-ecological conditions when supported by research, policy and scientific management.
