KCR | Telangana’s first Chief Minister KCR’s commitment to alternative cultivation is yielding results one by one. Many of the revolutionary schemes that he brought with his foresight are pouring in the veins of the farmers today.
KCR | Siddipet, June 11 (Namaste Telangana Spokesperson): Telangana’s first chief minister KCR’s commitment to alternative cultivation is yielding results one by one. Many of the revolutionary schemes that he brought with his foresight are pouring in the veins of the farmers today. While the oil palm promotion policies brought by KCR’s foresight are bringing double income to the farmers, the oil palm processing factory set up in Narmeta, Nangunur mandal of Siddipet district is continuing successfully.
The peasantry, once limited to traditional crops like rice, maize and cotton, is now gaining new economic strength with the cultivation of oil palm. Narmetta factory provides stable income to farmers. At first there were many doubts among the farmers about the oil palm crop. Farmers were worried about sales after harvesting. In line with KCR’s ideas, the then minister and Siddipet MLA Harish Rao’s continuous efforts and initiative led to the establishment of an oil palm factory in Narmeta. This allayed the fears of the farmers.
Maretting has become a problem as the farmers have the option of transporting the fresh produce directly to the factory. Farmers are facing losses due to weather changes, increasing investments and market price fluctuations in traditional crops. Once you invest in oil palm crop, you get yield for years. Farmers themselves say that the income has increased significantly. As the economic condition of the families improved, there was a renewed confidence in agriculture.
Increased employment opportunities
Narmetta factory is useful not only for the farmers but also for the economy of the country. With the establishment of this factory, local employment opportunities have increased. Directly 500 people get employment indirectly 2 thousand people. Hundreds of families are getting their livelihood through transport, labor works, nurseries and agricultural services. Even if the crop was harvested earlier, they had to turn around for sales. Now with the presence of a factory, there is a guaranteed mart facility for the crop. The country is heavily dependent on foreign imports for its cooking oil needs. By expanding oil palm cultivation, there is a possibility of increasing domestic production and reducing the burden of imports.
Crushing of 31,698 MT
The construction of the first refined palm oil factory in the state was done under the auspices of Telangana Oilfed with an area of 62 acres on the outskirts of Narmeta village at a cost of Rs.300 crores. 2022-23 oil palm has been launched in this district. Factory trial run in September 2025. Since then, 31,698.01 metric tons of crushing has been done and 5,521.86 metric tons of crude palm oil has been exported. So far, 14,000 acres of palm oil have been cultivated in the district.
5,800 acres of land are currently under harvest. While the target is 4,000 acres of cultivation in 2026-27, 600 acres are under cultivation so far. Narmeta factory has become very beneficial for Siddipet district as well as neighboring districts. 800 to 1,000 tons are being harvested daily. At present the crushing capacity is up to 30 tons per hour. The capacity is to be increased to 120 tonnes per hour. The factory runs throughout the year.
Electricity Generation with Bio Powerplant
Electricity is being generated as per requirement with Bio Power Plant installed with a capacity of 4 MW. A target of 100,000 tonnes of crushing has been set in a year. This oil palm factory was inaugurated on March 22. Since the inauguration of the factory till now, the processing has been done at a record level. 25,890 metric tons of fresh palm fruit bunches were processed. 4,612.305 metric tons of crude palm oil was produced from them.
2,370 metric tons of palm kernels were processed and 396.145 metric tons of crude palm kernel oil was produced from them. 12,966 kiloliters of waste water was treated. 63 metric tons of powder was produced. Currently, a refinery is being constructed at a cost of Rs.40 crores in an area of two acres next to the factory. Crude palm oil is extracted from the pulp of palm oil fruits, refined, packed and sent directly to the market.
Here 25 tons of palm oil are packed per hour. The Narmeta Oil Palm Processing Factory has a ramp area of about 1,000 metric tons of fresh fruits brought for processing from the district as well as other districts. Huge bunches of fruits are also transported here from Khammam, Bhadradri-Kottagudem districts.
Towards reducing the burden of imports
Narmeta Oil Palm Processing Factory has been running successfully for four months and is providing financial security to the farmers. Farmers are now happy with steady income. This project, which was started with the aim of reducing the import of cooking oil in the state, has become a boon to the farmers of the state.
Farmers are able to sell the fresh produce directly, reducing the involvement of middlemen and getting the right price for the farmers. Due to the increase in oil palm cultivation area, the farmers have some problems. Farmers want the government to focus more on issues such as availability of irrigation water, fertilizer prices, technical advice and increase of gela collection centers.
This is the method of extracting palm oil.
The processing of fresh fruit bunches in the factory is done in a fully steam and mechanized manner. Fresh fruit bunches are first sterilized by steam in a sterilizer. After that, the fruit is separated from the bunch through a thresher and the oil comes out through a digester and a press machine. The crude palm oil is then separated through a refining process.
No harmful chemicals are used in this process. The entire process is organic, steam based only. Natural steam and aroma are released from the fruit during purification. This smell is only due to the steam, organic fruit process and has no harmful effect on health.
