Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Thursday opposed the Centre’s reduction of palm oil import duty, citing risks to Telangana farmers. The overall import duty on crude palm oil fell from 16.5% to 11% after the latest decision. Tummala said cheaper imports could gain a competitive advantage over domestically produced oil palm.
As a result, he said the decision could put pressure on prices paid for locally produced oil palm bunches. The Minister also criticised what he called the Centre’s “dual approach” towards oil palm cultivation. He said the Centre was encouraging states to expand cultivation while simultaneously making imported palm oil cheaper.
“The Telangana government has been urging the Centre to increase the import duty,” Tummala said. He described the reduction as an “irresponsible decision” at a time when farmers needed price assurance.
Palm oil import duty raises long-term crop concerns
Tummala said oil palm required substantial investment because farmers cultivated it as a long-term crop. In contrast, farmers could harvest and sell seasonal crops within a single season. Oil palm farmers incurred significant expenditure on water, fertilisers and crop maintenance, he said.
Therefore, Tummala said the Centre had a responsibility to ensure policy stability. He also called for protection of farmers who invested in long-term crops. The Minister said Telangana had promoted oil palm cultivation on a large scale across the state. More than 88,000 farmers currently cultivated the crop on about 3.20 lakh acres, he said.
According to Tummala, the cultivated area made Telangana one of India’s leading states for oil palm acreage. He questioned whom the Centre intended to benefit by reducing the palm oil import duty in favour of cheaper foreign imports.