Bid to push oil palm cultivation in Northeast India rings alarm bells

DIMAPUR — With an aim to empower and enable communities in the Northeast India to make informed choices about oil palm cultivation, amid apprehensions over the possible negative impact of such a move in the ecologically-fragile region, the Kezekevi Thehou ba (KTB), a Nagaland-based organisation, organised a virtual meeting on August 19.

The meeting was attended by 66 people and organisations from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland to hear the hitherto “untold” facts associated with oil palm cultivation from several subject matter experts, according to an update from KTB.

The discussion dwelled on natural resources (impact on water, quality and quantity), land usage (ownership and rights issue), biodiversity (food security) and economy.

India’s significant shortfall in domestic palm oil production has prompted the government to push for vegetable oil security under the banner of the National Mission on Edible Oil–Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), it was informed, adding that the top targets are the NE states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which happen to be global biodiversity hotspots and habitat for globally threatened species.

Asserting that the two regions are home to some of the most extensive tracts of forest in the country which is ‘crucial for biodiversity, climate resilience and intrinsic protection for indigenous cultures’, the update said oil palm cultivation should not be initiated in the regions.

Impact on natural resources

The high intake of water, with each oil palm tree said to be requiring 230-328 litres of water daily, was discussed during the meeting. As the region is rain-fed, the new crop could have a huge impact on the natural resources.

“Experts have questioned both the ‘quantity’ and ‘quality’ of water that will be available for people since oil palm cultivation requires exorbitantly high use of fertilisers and pesticides,” read the update.

The instance of oil palm farmers in Mizoram who have reported zero profit from the crop even after 15 years and the incident of failed promises by oil palm promoters in Assam’s Goalpara district, were highlighted.

Land usage (ownership and rights issue)

The interaction brought to the fore unknown facts associated with land usage pattern, procurement strategies and the potential impact on land ownership and tenure ship where oil palm cultivation is involved, according to the update.

Participants from Karbi Anglong and Mizoram shared how land belonging to the indigenous communities was planted with oil palm trees.

“A participant from Nagaland shared how his Church Council had been approached by the state agriculture department to start an oil palm sapling nursery in six hectares of church land in a bid to supply 125,000 oil palm plants annually,” said the update, adding that “an agreement was signed with the church, and as an incentive, a tractor was provided to start the nursery”.

“The total area declared for oil palm cultivation in the northeast stands at 1.2 million hectares of which the largest area currently measuring 1.6 lakh hectares falls under Assam. The immediate target is to bring 60,000 hectares of this figure under oil palm in the next 5 years,” it said.

The meeting also discussed the possible change in land ownership pattern and the channelling of all available water resources in the area for big plantations owned by individuals.

Impact on biodiversity (food security)

“The experts presented the scenario when landscapes with diverse benefits such as medicinal plants, timber, bamboo and non-timber forest products, diversity of food crops are replaced with labour intensive monoculture cash crop that will negatively impact food security,” it said.

The loss of forests will exacerbate extreme climate change events such as massive floods and severe drought in the Northeast, it added.

Economy

The impact of oil palm on the largely subsistence economy turning to a cash economy will result in negative growth, the experts warned. The crop requires huge quantity of water, which is not always readily available and this can cause drastic declines in production.

Despite fears looming large that the oil palm cultivation could drain the landscape of its ecological resources, many farmers appear to have fallen prey to it because of sheer ignorance due to a lack of conversation around it, said the update, adding that Meghalaya is the only state in the Northeast that rejected palm cultivation.

In his closing remark, Niketu Iralu, the chairman of KTB, said natural resources in the region are closely linked with geo-political strategies of India’s “Act East” policy.                       

Iralu also explained the need to have access to information for communities to make informed decisions about their land and natural resources for a sustainable future, according to the update.