Thrissur: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that the import of edible oils would continue as there was a huge oil deficit in the market.
Speaking to journalists after launching a coconut replanting and rejuvenation project at the Kerala Agricultural University, he said there was a gap of 5 million tonnes between the domestic production of edible oils and demand.
“Imports will continue until domestic production is up. To offset the disadvantages faced by coconut farmers, the Centre has increased the Minimum Support Price [MSP] of milling copra to Rs. 4,450 a quintal, up by Rs.790 compared to last year.”
Allays fears
He urged the Kerala government to introduce an efficient procurement mechanism at the grassroots to strengthen market intervention operations. “Only then will farmers get the benefit of increased MSP. Despite the increased MSP, very few farmers undertake copra processing.”
Dispelling apprehensions of Kerala coconut farmers about the Free Trade Agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Mr. Pawar said the Centre had taken measures to safeguard the interests of farmers.
“Coconut and coconut products have been included in the negative list, and they will not be subjected to any tariff reduction.”
Palm insurance
The Minister announced a Palm Insurance Scheme for coconut farmers.
The Centre will bear 50 per cent of the premium and the State 25 per cent and the rest is to be met by the beneficiary.
The risks covered include lightning, flood, cyclone, drought, fire and irrecoverable damage to palms due to pest attack.
The new replanting and rejuvenation programme, which will be implemented as a pilot project in the next three years in three districts of Kerala and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has a Central subsidy of Rs. 478 crore.