Roundtable on palm oil plantation held in city

Guwahati: The centre, under the aegis of National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), has launched a mega plantation drive from July 25-August 5. The roundtable of this initiative was organised by Godrej Agrovet Limited, the Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research, the Solvent Extractors Association of India and the Solidaridad Network at Taj by Vivanta Hotel in Guwahati on July 26. 

Godrej Agrovet Ltd, a leading food and agri-business conglomerate, has been involved in an oil palm plantation in the region since 2006 and has signed an MoU with Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura for the development and promotion of oil palm cultivation under the NMEO-OP scheme.
The initiative, launched in August 2021, aims to increase edible oil production from oil palm. 

The meeting in Guwahati was attended by Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, Agriculture Transformation and Commission for Class III posts and Chairman of ARIAS Society. He informed that 18 districts from Assam are selected for the Oil Palm cultivation. Speaking on the occasion, the Executive Director of Godrej Agrovet Limited, Burjis Godrej informed the media that the company has a pledge for oil palm cultivation without deforestation. He enlightened the attendees with how Godrej has been making India for so many years by a video presentation. 

Over the years, Godrej Agrovet have developed over 75,000 hectares of plantations across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Maharashtra and Mizoram. Its range of products, including Crude Palm Oil, Crude Palm Kernel Oil and Palm Kernel Cake, are produced at five oil palm mills across the country. It has been present in Assam for nine years now.

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