Analysis of Growth Trends in Oil Palm in Tamil Nadu

Oil palm is one of the important commercial crop and the study was conducted to analyse the growth trends in oil palm in Tamil Nadu. The area under oil palm cultivation has been stagnant for the past decade (2005-06 to 2015-16) in Tamil Nadu and there is slow progress in area under oil palm cultivation. The area under NMOOP increased from 1106 ha during 2014-15 to 1348 ha during 2015-16. The productivity of palm oil increased from 4697 kg ha-1 during 2011-12 to 7810 kg ha-1 during 2015-16. The productivity of the oil increased to 40 percent over the five years. The area expansion under the scheme increased from four districts during 1993-94 to 25 districts during 2015-16. Villupuram is the leading district, followed by Cuddalore, Vellore and Thanjavur. It implies that the increases in the area expansion was because of the subsidies provided by the government and private companies which worked intensively in the area. On the other hand, Sivagangai, Thiruvallore, Krishnagiri, Pudukottai and Virudhunagar districts have lowest area under oil palm in Tamil Nadu during 2015-16.