ITANAGAR, Sep 3: Agriculture Minister Gabriel D Wangsu, while stressing the need for a comprehensive approach to sustainable palm oil production in the State, said that it must deal with not only environmental, economic, and social aspects but also the critical issue of human-animal conflict in palm oil plantation.
Wangsu said: “Emphasis should be laid for a comprehensive approach to sustainable palm oil production that addresses environmental, economic, and social aspects, as well as the critical issue of human-animal conflict in oil palm plantations.”
Speaking at the one-day ‘Capacity Building Workshop on Sustainable Palm Oil Production in Arunachal Pradesh’ organized by the Department of Agriculture (GoAP) in association with the Centre for Responsible Business (CRB), New Delhi with support from WWF-India and RSPO, held at the Directorate of Agriculture in Naharlagun today, the Minister spoke about the issues of concern on large-scale development of Oil Palm, the need of long-term state specific research, environmentally and socially responsible oil palm cultivation policy with the farmers and policymakers in Arunachal Pradesh.
“Sustainable palm oil production will be a crucial component of Arunachal Pradesh’s agricultural and economic development, but it must be approached with great care and responsibility,” said Wangsu, adding “This workshop provides a valuable platform to discuss the challenges, and explore the way forward for domestic production of oil palm with the farmers and the policymakers.”
The workshop also featured experts from organizations like the WorldWide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India), the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the CRB, who delivered in-depth presentations on various aspects of sustainable palm oil production, including environmental, economic and social considerations, as well as the critical issue of human-animal conflict in oil palm plantations.
Additionally, two champion oil palm farmers from Assam and Andhra Pradesh shared their experiences and best practices with the participants.
The discussion would pave the way forward for developing Arunachal State Oil Palm policies, which would promote sustainable production and create safeguards for natural resources.
The meeting highlighted that palm oil can be produced sustainably by incorporating principles such as protection of High Conservation Value (HCV) areas as well as jurisdictional approaches. The three organizations will be eager to work with the government in developing necessary policy frameworks for Arunachal Pradesh.
The event was attended by Senior Director, Ecological Footprint, WWF- India, Suresh Babu; Deputy Director, Market Transformation (India & China) -RSPO, Ashwin Selvaraj; Director Agriculture Dani Yubbe and Senior Programme Officer CRB Bhavya Sharma, besides the officers from the Dept of Agriculture, Oil Palm Farmers Organization from Papum Pare district and a representative from Patanjali Foods Ltd. (DIPR)