Though the State has suitable agro climate condition for oil palm cultivation, he advised the farmers to keep in mind the Pakke declaration and climate conditions for global conditions for oil palm farming.

Earlier, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in his inaugural speech informed that the nation is the largest consumer of edible oil and spends over 80 crore every year, so the need of the hour is to increase its own oil production so that the country become more reliable and could export to other countries. Kumar also informed that the Centre has planned to provide all supports for oil palm cultivation including developing land, setting up nurseries, providing fertilizers.

"It is our collective responsibility to look after the ecosystem for which land mapping is the first requirement which will be look after Northeast Space Application Centre at Shillong to expedite the usage of remote sensing technology to discover natural minerals uncovered in the North-Eastern states of India and to promote overall growth of the region. They can develop areas which can be use for oil plam cultivation," Kumar said.

Informing that Arunachal is blessed with good quality soil and climate for agro plants, the Chief Secretary urged the resource persons to impart knowledge to the farmers about climatic conditions, suitable soil, good quality saplings, manure, inter cropping etc for oil palm cultivation.

State agriculture secretary Bidol Tayeng also spoke on the occasion. The programme was attended by various States, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) representatives, central universities and processing centres among others.

Source: The Sentinel