Leading Indian oil palm company 3F Oil Palm and the government of the Indian state of Assam (GoAS) have launched an oil palm plantation in the northeast of the country, India Today reported.
The aim of the collaboration was to help farming communities and to boost India’s self-reliance in edible oils, the 5 June report said.
Part of the National Mission on Edible Oil – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), the oil palm plantation was the first set up under the scheme and signified the government’s commitment to the oil palm plantation sector, India Today wrote.
3F Oil Palm, which has an oil palm nursery in Bokulbari village, Lakhimpur district, with a second planned at Chirang, had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with GoAS in December, the report said.
As part of the NMEO-OP, 3F Oil Palm aims to develop oil palm plantations and processing facilities in Lakhimpur and Chirang districts, according to the report.
The company planned to develop 23,500ha of oil palm plantations over the next five years and was researching a suitable site for a greenfield processing plant, India Today wrote.
In addition, 3F Oil Palm had plans for a new integrated oil palm processing unit in Arunachal Pradesh, the report said.
Headquartered in Hyderabad, 3F Oil Palm has been involved in integrated oil palm development projects since 1993 and its activities include nursery work, development of plantations through contract farming, farmer services, crude palm oil extraction, refining and power generation, India Today wrote.
The company operates a total palm area of around 55,000ha with five processing units and contract plantations across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Arunachal Pradesh, according to the report.
