With a potential cultivation area of 60,000 to 70,000 hectares, Mizoram is currently leading the northeastern region in oil palm cultivation, according to scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research (IIOPR) in Andhra Pradesh, who spoke to the governor of Mizoram on Wednesday. A joint team of scientists from ICAR and IIOPR, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, led by Principal Scientist K. Manorama, met with Mizoram Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on Wednesday to discuss the enormous potential of oil palm cultivation in the mountainous state, according to an official.
The significance of increasing oil palm production in Mizoram was covered in the discussion, along with the difficulties farmers confront and methods for bettering oil palm planting and management. With Mizoram’s enormous potential to increase oil palm production, the governor emphasized the necessity for concentrated efforts and asked the ICAR experts to collaborate closely with oil palm growers in order to effectively meet their requirements and concerns. In order to maximize the state’s potential in this area, he urged the ICAR officials to create a suitable strategy for future growth through the ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Mizoram Centre, Kolasib.
According to the source, they told the governor that Mizoram is currently the most oil palm-growing state in the northeast, with 60,000–70,000 hectares of potential cultivation land. In the meantime, the Central government’s Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Assam, recently held a two-day national level review and workshop on Sustainable Oil Palm Cultivation in Guwahati.
