Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said on Friday that the State had enough potential for cultivation of oil palm and it would be remunerative activity too for the farmers. He wanted efforts to be made in the direction of promoting oil palm in a big way.
Assuming office as Minister for Agriculture, Marketing, Cooperation, Handloom and Textile at the Secretariat, he signed the first file clearing the proposal for setting up five oil palm units with an outlay of Rs.1050 crore in the State. He also cleared the proposal for extending video conference network facility to 110 Rythu Vedikas in the State at a cost of Rs.4.07 crore. He wanted the Rythu Vedikas to be utilized for educating on the modern farm practices.
The Minister also signed another document approving the proposal for fully computerizing the various wings of the Agriculture Department and the corporations to facilitate transparent governance. He stressed that all activities should be computerized in district cooperative offices as well as cooperative commissioner, registrar of cooperative societies in the State.
He also handed over a letter of appointment to Asish Kumar, son of a Sericulture Department employee. The job was given to him on compassionate grounds.
The Minister said the climatic conditions in the State would also suit the oil palm cultivation. It would help create employment while relieving the State of its dependence on imports. Oil palm is a long term crop giving regular yields for over 25 to 30 years.
