Harvest festival of Oil Palm plantation tomorrow

Kottayam, Feb 28 (UNI) Kerala Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran will inaugurate the harvest festival and loan mela at the Kuttanad Model Plantation of the Oil Palm India Limited tomorrow.

Oil Palm India Limited Chairman V B Binu and Managing Director Mathew Jacob told newsmen here yesterday the model plantation was established in fallow land which remained barren for decades. As many as 135 farmers benefitted from the project.

The company had identified some one lakh hectare of fallow land in the state and sought the approval of the state government for cultivating oil palm which could create a revolution in the agriculture sector, he said.

A project to set up a refinery to produce palm oil with the co-operation of the KSIDC was under consideration, he said.

Under the loan scheme, Rs 19,600 per hectare would be given to each farmer at a simple interest rate of seven per cent.

UNI