NMEO-OP: National Mission on Edible Oils Oil Palm Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

NMEO-OP: National Mission on Edible Oils — Oil Palm

The National Mission on Edible Oils — Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) is a centrally-sponsored scheme launched by the Government of India in August 2021 to expand the area under oil palm cultivation and raise domestic crude palm oil (CPO) production, reducing India's dependence on imported palm oil. It is the dedicated oil palm component carved out of the earlier National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) and is implemented by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare with technical support from ICAR-Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research (IIOPR), Pedavegi.

Overview and targets

NMEO-OP has a total outlay of ₹11,040 crore for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26. The mission targets an additional 6.5 lakh hectares under oil palm by 2025-26, taking the national area from about 3.7 lakh ha (2021) to 10 lakh ha, and CPO production from 0.27 million tonnes to 1.1 million tonnes by 2025-26 and 2.8 million tonnes by 2029-30. The north-eastern (NE) states and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are the focus regions, with a special package of higher subsidy and 2 percent additional cost on planting material because of difficult terrain and freight.

Eligibility and area allocation

State governments identify potential oil palm zones based on a Department of Agriculture and ICAR-IIOPR feasibility study covering rainfall, temperature, soil and water availability. Companies that have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government (the "oil palm zoning" agreement) carry out planting, processing and offtake. Individual farmers in the notified zones — irrespective of holding size — are eligible for the planting and maintenance assistance, with priority for SC/ST and small/marginal farmers.

Benefit and structure

Planting material: subsidy of ₹29,000/ha (general states) and ₹32,000/ha (NE and Andamans).
Maintenance grant: ₹3,000/ha/year for the first four pre-bearing years (general); ₹3,250/ha/year for NE/A&N.
Intercrop assistance: up to ₹5,250/ha for inputs during the gestation period (banana, pineapple, papaya, vegetables intercropped between palms).
Drip and bore-well: support for micro-irrigation infrastructure.
Viability price (VP) for fresh fruit bunches (FFB): a first-of-its-kind MSP-style assured price for FFB. The Centre fixes a viability price tied to monthly CPO wholesale price (CPO WP × oil-extraction-ratio 14.3 percent ± share factor). If the company-paid price falls below the VP, the differential is paid directly to the farmer's account by DA&FW.
Industrial assistance: 5 crore per processing mill and 50 lakh per seed garden of 15 ha.

Implementation

State Oil Palm Mission Committees, with the District Collector chairing the district-level committee, sanction the area to companies and verify planting. ICAR-IIOPR Pedavegi supplies sprouts/seed and runs the all-India network. Major company players include Godrej Agrovet, Patanjali Foods (formerly Ruchi Soya), 3F Oil Palm, Oil Palm India, and several state-led cooperatives. By 2024 the mission had crossed about 1 lakh ha of additional area, with Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur leading the expansion.

Limitations

The mission has been criticised on three grounds: (i) ecological concerns over diverting paddy and other land to a long-gestation perennial in monsoon-dependent zones; (ii) heavy water requirement (200-300 L/palm/day) in dry-period months; and (iii) corporate concentration of the value chain, with farmers locked into 20-25 year offtake contracts. The viability price has cushioned price risk but does not address productivity risks from pests like Rhynchophorus ferrugineus and basal stem rot (Ganoderma Stem Rot Oil Palm).

Sources

National Mission on Edible Oils — Oil Palm (NMEO-OP). Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
NMEO-OP Operational Guidelines. Press Information Bureau.
Oil Palm Area Expansion Programme. ICAR-Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research, Pedavegi.