Lok Sabha Question No. 441 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-30
Subject: Study on Impact of Oil Palm Cultivation
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dushyant Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.441

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  30TH NOVEMBER, 2021

## STUDY ON IMPACT OF OIL PALM CULTIVATION

## 441. SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has conducted any scientific study to assess the impact on biodiversity and water availability in North-Eastern States, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and other  parts  of  the  country  by  proposed  palm  oil  plantations  before  approving  for  National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  whether  any  such  study  will  be  conducted  in  the future;
- (c) the  details  of  the  average  annual  precipitation  required  for  cultivation  of  palm  oil plantations  in  the  country  and  average  recorded  annual  precipitation  for  the  last  five  years, State-wise; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  any  intention  to  provide  MSP  in  future  for  Fresh  Fruit Bunches (FFBs) produced from palm oil plantations by farmers apart from Viability Price, if so, the details thereof, and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी ( SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a)  &  (b):  In  the  year  2020,  the  Reassessment  Committee  of  ICAR-IIOPR  has  conducted  a study to assess the potential area of Oilpalm cultivation in the country including North-Eastern States and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. As per the report of Reassessment Committee, a total 22 States have been identified with 27.99 lakh ha as having a  potential area for Oil Palm cultivation in India.

The Reassessment Committee of ICAR-IIOPR, 2020 identified land suitable for oil palm cultivation  under  irrigated  and  rainfed  condition  keeping  the  various  parameters  such  as Remote  Sensing  (RS),  Geographical  Information  Systems  (GIS).  Under  irrigated  condition, ground water level, rainfall (annual), minimum temperature, Double/Triple cropped areas were taken  as  key  parameters.  In  case  of  rainfed  category,  the  five  parameters  viz;  rainfall, minimum temperature, elevation, slope, soil depth, and length of continuous dry period were identified to delineate potential regions.

(c):        Under rainfed conditions, oil palm requires around 1800 mm of rainfall at the rate of 150  mm  per  month.  Even  under  irrigated  conditions,  rainfall  is  considered  as  an  important parameter with 7% weightage since it contributes water supply in lieu of ground water at least during rainy period. As per ICAR-IIOPR,  rainfall suitability classes have been categorized as >1000  mm  (highly  suitable),  601-1000  (moderately  suitable)  and  <600  mm  (Not  suitable) based  on  the  IMD  rainfall  data  collected  from  historical  normal  (1950-2000)  and  minimum temperature data of ICAR-CRIDA for the period 1969-2000.

The  annual  average  rainfall  recorded  in  last  5  years  in  different  States  is  given  at Annexure-I.

(d) : Under NMEO-OP, t he Government has introduced the concept of a viability price for the price of Fresh Fruit Bunches which shall be the assured returns to the farmers based on a transparent and rational formula.

## Referred to in reply to part (c) of LokSabha Unstarred question No. 441 for 30.11.2021 Regarding ' STUDY ON IMPACT OF OIL PALM CULTIVATION' asked byShri Dushyant Singh

## State-Wise Annual Rainfall (mm) for the Years (2017-2021)

| S.                      |                           | Year                    | Year                    | Year                    | Year                    | Year                    |
|-------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
| No.                     | States                    | 2017                    | 2018                    | 2019                    | 2020                    | 2021                    |
| East & North East India | East & North East India   | East & North East India | East & North East India | East & North East India | East & North East India | East & North East India |
| 1                       | Arunachal Pradesh         | 2723.0                  | 1938.2                  | 2328.4                  | 2883.6                  | 2037.9                  |
| 2                       | Assam                     | 2383.2                  | 1786.4                  | 2081.8                  | 2360.3                  | 1617.4                  |
| 3                       | Meghalaya                 | 3912.8                  | 2269.3                  | 3558.0                  | 5636.0                  | 3147.3                  |
| 4                       | Nagaland                  | 1583.3                  | 1569.6                  | 1519.2                  | 1357.7                  | 1142.1                  |
| 5                       | Manipur                   | 1731.5                  | 1000.5                  | 945.6                   | 1193.2                  | 874.3                   |
| 6                       | Mizoram                   | 3933.7                  | 2467.6                  | 1869.2                  | 1594.5                  | 1610.6                  |
| 7                       | Tripura                   | 3293.9                  | 2193.9                  | 2249.8                  | 2138.0                  | 1644.0                  |
| 8                       | Sikkim                    | 2842.9                  | 3098.8                  | 2869.6                  | 3508.0                  | 3011.2                  |
| 9                       | West Bengal               | 1809.2                  | 1412.2                  | 1711.2                  | 1968.0                  | 2145.3                  |
| 10                      | Jharkhand                 | 1153.8                  | 927.0                   | 1139.4                  | 1229.5                  | 1419.4                  |
| 11                      | Bihar                     | 1111.6                  | 851.4                   | 1193.3                  | 1521.3                  | 1502.1                  |
| North West India        | North West India          | North West India        | North West India        | North West India        | North West India        | North West India        |
| 1                       | Uttar Pradesh             | 648.7                   | 804.0                   | 816.3                   | 794.6                   | 941.7                   |
| 2                       | Uttarakhand               | 1477.1                  | 1389.4                  | 1377.9                  | 1370.0                  | 1646.0                  |
| 3                       | Haryana                   | 402.5                   | 457.4                   | 351.4                   | 533.2                   | 676.4                   |
| 4                       | Chandigarh (UT)           | 944.4                   | 1126.5                  | 938.7                   | 1046.5                  | 741.9                   |
| 5                       | Delhi                     | 533.4                   | 670.3                   | 504.1                   | 596.6                   | 909.2                   |
| 6                       | Punjab                    | 491.3                   | 586.3                   | 662.0                   | 597.6                   | 536.9                   |
| 7                       | Himachal Pradesh          | 1186.8                  | 1170.0                  | 1220.5                  | 1053.1                  | 1025.3                  |
| 8                       | Jammu & Kashmir (UT)      | 1280.0                  | 1046.2                  | 1275.1                  | 979.0                   | 877.8                   |
| 9                       | Ladakh (UT)               | -                       | -                       | -                       | 16.6                    | 54.9                    |
| 10                      | Rajasthan                 | 491.4                   | 400.8                   | 661.3                   | 502.9                   | 581.4                   |
| Central India           | Central India             | Central India           | Central India           | Central India           | Central India           | Central India           |
| 1                       | Odisha                    | 1342.9                  | 1631.0                  | 1594.1                  | 1636.0                  | 1372.8                  |
| 2                       | Madhya Pradesh            | 799.7                   | 897.0                   | 1446.8                  | 1107.7                  | 1080.9                  |
| 3                       | Gujarat                   | 814.1                   | 485.4                   | 1067.7                  | 1125.4                  | 782.8                   |
| 4                       | Dadra & Nagar Haveli (UT) | 3174.5                  | 2060.5                  | 3751.0                  | 2413.8                  | 2947.1                  |
| 5                       | Daman & Diu (UT)          | 2007.8                  | 1590.1                  | 2266.0                  | 1721.7                  | 2135.7                  |
| 6                       | Goa                       | 2776.0                  | 2660.6                  | 4489.5                  | 4423.3                  | 3850.7                  |
| 7                       | Maharashtra               | 1128.2                  | 976.7                   | 1524.3                  | 1334.2                  | 1378.2                  |
| 8                       | Chhatisgarh               | 1123.2                  | 1206.8                  | 1426.3                  | 1515.4                  | 1280.3                  |
| South Peninsula         | South Peninsula           | South Peninsula         | South Peninsula         | South Peninsula         | South Peninsula         | South Peninsula         |
| 1                       | A & N Island (UT)         | 2890.0                  | 3113.4                  | 3086.0                  | 2842.9                  | 3343.2                  |
| 2                       | Andhra Pradesh            | 863.8                   | 659.8                   | 898.7                   | 1220.4                  | 1093.0                  |
| 3                       | Telangana                 | 811.1                   | 853.3                   | 1029.9                  | 1351.3                  | 1206.0                  |
| 4                       | Tamilnadu                 | 970.6                   | 801.0                   | 910.0                   | 999.4                   | 1203.3                  |
| 5                       | Puducherry (UT)           | 1582.5                  | 1142.1                  | 1353.2                  | 1694.4                  | 1951.9                  |
| 6                       | Karnataka                 | 1117.9                  | 1082.3                  | 1425.8                  | 1421.0                  | 1425.1                  |
| 7                       | Kerala                    | 2670.0                  | 3519.8                  | 3118.7                  | 2989.1                  | 3523.9                  |
| 8                       | Lakshadweep (UT)          | 1738.8                  | 1434.3                  | 2172.1                  | 1884.7                  | 1786.4                  |
| Country As A            | Whole                     | 1121.6                  | 1007.6                  | 1278.7                  | 1280.9                  | 1207.4                  |

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