Need long-term policy to boost oil palm cultivation, reduce imports: OPDPA

India is heavily dependent on imported edible oils. Of the total 15 million tonnes of import, about 9 million tonnes (or nearly 60 per cent) is of palm oils

A long-term policy is required to encourage oil palm cultivation in India as the country is currently dependent on imports, processors' body OPDPA said on Tuesday.

The Oil Palm Developers And Processors Association (OPDPA) said there is a huge scope for oil palm cultivation in North Eastern region, with Arunachal Pradesh and Assam alone having the potential to cover 200,000 hectares under oil palm.

"A strong and robust long-term policy mechanism needs to be introduced to give this crop the required push across India," OPDPA President Sanjay Goenka said in a statement.

The industry is in need of several reforms