Hyderabad: Telangana agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers opposing Centre’s decision to cut crude palm oil import duty, saying the move will hurt oil palm farmers. In letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, Tummala demanded an immediate review of the duty cut and restoration of the protective import duty.The minister said Centre cannot, on the one hand, encourage farmers to take up oil palm cultivation through the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) and, on the other, make imported palm oil cheaper by cutting the import duty. “Are you guiding farmers towards oil palm and then taking decisions that leave no price for farmers’ produce?” he asked.Tummala said Telangana alone has 88,621 farmers cultivating oil palm in 1.29 lakh hectares. Unlike seasonal crops, oil palm requires farmers to commit their land for long term and invest heavily. Policy stability is crucial for such a long-duration crop, he said. If the import cost of crude palm oil falls, domestic CPO prices will come under pressure, eventually affecting the price of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) paid to farmers, Tummala explained in his letter. The govt understands the need to provide relief to consumers by keeping edible oil prices affordable, but the burden should not be shifted to domestic farmers, he said.“Giving relief to consumers is understandable. But shifting that burden onto domestic farmers is not the solution. A policy that balances the interests of both farmer and consumer is needed,” Tummala said. He warned that frequent changes in import policy after farmers have committed their land for years based on govt-promoted cultivation would erode their trust and affect future expansion under NMEO-OP. Making imported oil more competitive at a time when NMEO-OP is being implemented to reduce dependence on edible oil imports and achieve self-reliance will derail the national goal, Tummala said. He said Centre’s decision to prioritise the interests of importers over the future of farmers was not appropriate and called for an immediate review of import policies that could adversely affect farmers’ long-term interests.Since Telangana and Andhra Pradesh together have large number of oil palm farmers, Tummala has also written to chief ministers of both Telugu-speaking states, requesting them to put pressure on Centre to protect the interests of palm oil farmers and convey their views to the Centre in coordination. Tummala said Telangana will not step back from protecting the interests of oil palm farmers and will continue its efforts against the Centre’s decision. The oil palm issue, he said, should not be viewed as a single-state issue but in the broader context of domestic edible oil production, farmers’ income, NMEO-OP goals and reducing the country’s dependence on imports.
