NAHARLAGUN, Sep 3: Arunachal Pradesh Agriculture Minister, Gabriel D Wangsu emphasized the need 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.
The Minister was speaking at a one-day "Capacity Building Workshop on Sustainable Palm Oil Production in Arunachal Pradesh" organised by the Department of Agriculture in association with the Centre for Responsible Business (CRB), New Delhi, and with support from WWF-India and RSPO, at the Directorate of Agriculture in Naharlagun.
The event was also attended by the Senior Director, Ecological Footprint, WWF- India, Suresh Babu; Deputy Director, Market Transformation (India & China) -RSPO, Ashwin Selvaraj, Director of Agriculture, Dani Yubbe and Senior Programme Officer, Centre for Responsible Business (CRB), Bhavya Sharma.
During the workshop, Gabriel D Wangsu, 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. "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 Centre for Responsible Business (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 workshop was attended by officers from the Department of Agriculture, Oil Palm Farmers organization from Papum Pare District and a representative from Patanjali Foods Ltd.