Oil palm farmers seek Rs 18,000 remunerative price

Oil palm farmers in Andhra Pradesh have urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to address their concerns by revising the ‘Viability Price’ and reintroducing import duties on Crude Palm Oil (CPO). The demand for a remunerative price of Rs 18,000 per tonne aims to safeguard the interests of farmers facing challenges due to fluctuating prices and unfair foreign competition.
K Kranthi Kumar Reddy, general secretary of the National Oilpalm Farmers Association, and member of ICAR-IIOPR, along with Bobba Veera Raghava Rao, president of AP State Oilpalm Farmers Welfare Association, and other leaders, including BJP AP president Daggubati Purandeswari, on Sunday met with Nirmala Sitharaman in Vijayawada to submit a memorandum outlining their concerns.
The leaders highlighted the adverse impact of duty-free CPO imports on oil palm and other oilseed farmers. They expressed dismay over the sharp decline in Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) prices, which plummeted from Rs 23,635 per tonne in May 2022 to Rs 12,100 by October 2023. This drop was attributed to CPO prices falling from Rs 1,45,000 per tonne to Rs 74,000 per tonne. The elimination of import duties in April 2022, previously at 49%, further exacerbated the losses faced by farmers.
In the interest of achieving edible oil self-sufficiency and addressing the livelihood concerns of farmers, the oil palm leaders proposed implementing a Dynamic Import Duty mechanism and reinstating import duties to shield oil palm and other oilseed farmers from undue foreign competition. They emphasized the need to maintain the CPO price at Rs 1,20,000 per tonne to cover the cost of cultivation adequately.
The leaders pointed out that the Viability Price, currently not accounting for the value of by-products (nuts) in the formula, is fixed at 19% of the Oil Extraction Rate (OER), with only 14.3% allocated to the farmers. This, they argued, leads to significant losses for the farmers. The oil palm leaders urged the union minister to convene a meeting with all stakeholders to revise the Viability Price and establish a remunerative price exceeding Rs 18,000 per tonne, ensuring the cultivation costs are adequately covered.
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has assured the delegation that she will consider the issues raised, emphasizing her commitment to doing justice to oil palm farmers.