When I was working in the Department of Agriculture, Tamil Nadu, the technology mission on edible oils in the 1980s and the coverage of area under oil palm was very poor. Farmers were reluctant to adopt this crop due to its invasive nature just like the Lantana camara weed in the Western Ghats. The Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research Palode, Kerala does not seem to have come up with favourable results for the suitability of oil palm in India.
A. Kaja Nazimudeen,
Eruvadi, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu
