India: Crude palm oil output may see quantum jump

The government is aiming to increase domestic crude palm oil (CPO) production from current level of 0.35 million tonne (MT) to 2.3 MT by 2029 under the National Oil Palm Mission. The plantation area is set to reach a million hectare (Mha) by next few years, from the current level of 0.6 Mha. An official said several companies, including Godrej Agrovet, Patanjali Food and 3F Oil Palm Agrotech are planning expansion. Palm plants start yielding oil in 4 years and optimum yield is achieved in the eighth year. Through expansion of plantations in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, the aim is to increase fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) to 10.2 MT by 2029 from the current level of 2 MT. “Recent oil palm cultivation under the oil palm mission will start producing fresh fruit bunches, the main raw material for palm oil production, in the next 4-5 years,” an official said. The agriculture ministry has integrated all the oil palm companies using application programming interfaces ...