SC panel questions need to revive oil palm plantations in Andaman

SC panel questions need to revive oil palm plantations in Andaman

Subject : Environment

Section: Pollution

Context: Oil palm plantations raised in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the past have proven to be a total commercial failure, the Supreme Court-constituted Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has said, questioning the need to revive the commercial crop in the archipelago.

Observations of Supreme Court-constituted Central Empowered Committee:

• The committee said any permission for diversion of forest land for red oil palm plantation in the archipelago in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, “is bound to open flood gates in all the states for similar agricultural purposes on forest lands”.
• The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; FC Rules, 2022, and the guidelines issued thereunder strictly prohibit the diversion of forest land for agricultural purposes and any non-site specific activity.
• Since the focus of the proposal is on meeting the shortage of vegetable oil in the country, why cannot the production of palm oil be taken up on the mainland, where the oil palm plantations have been successfully raised.
• It said red oil palm plantations raised in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands “prior to the enactment of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, proved to be a total commercial failure” and the Union Territory administration’s application does not appear to adequately address the reason for raising fresh plantations in the Andaman forests.
• The Union Territory administration’s application seeking modification of the Supreme Court’s 2002 order, even without identifying and demarcating the required forest land on the ground, “appears to be an attempt by the applicants to bypass the due procedure and the scrutiny of the proposal under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
• The committee also said the raising and maintenance of 16,000 hectares of commercial plantations will require engagement of 32,000 plantation labourers on a continuous basis.
• The island is already facing a serious issue of encroachment of forest lands and from past experience, there is every likelihood of the plantation labourers and their families encroaching on forest lands. And the possibility of illegal migrants entering from neighbouring countries cannot be ruled out.

About Oil Palm:

• India imports60 per cent of the edible oil it consumes and runs up an import bill of ₹80,000 crore. Of that, palm oil alone accounts for 55 per cent.
• In south-east Asia, palm monoculture has eaten into nearly 10 million hectares of forests.
• In India it is a farmers’ crop, grown in existing farmlands with
• Palm oil is rich in vitamin A and E, and in coenzymes like ubiquinone that help fight cardiac diseases.
• Palm is good for sequestering carbon. It is actually a form of afforestation. A palm tree produces two to three new leaves per month. A lot of biomass, too, gets added to the soil.
• The requirement of pesticides and herbicides is significantly less for oil palm compared to other crops.
• The total water requirement is less than that for rice or sugarcane.
• Palm oil is cheap because it is highly productive. The cost of cultivation is low and yields very high.

National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm:

• National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a special focus on the North east region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with a focus on increasing area and productivity of oilseeds and Oil Palm.
• A financial outlay of 11,040 crore has been made for the scheme, out of which Rs.8,844 crore is the Government of India share and Rs.2,196 crore is State share and this includes the viability gap funding also.
  • The Viability Formula is a Minimum Support Price-type mechanism and the government will fix this at 14.3% of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) price
• Under this scheme, it is proposed to cover an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectare (ha.) for oil palm till the year 2025-26 and thereby reaching the target of 10 lakh hectares ultimately.
• Another focus area of the scheme is to substantially increase the support of inputs/interventions.
• Special assistance will be given to replant old gardens for their rejuvenation.