8/31/2004 (BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS) - Palm oil growers inTanintharyi [Tenasserim] Division have asked the government for more landso they can expand their plantations, said a senior agricultural officialfrom the Myanmar [Burma] Perennial Crops Enterprise.

A deputy general manager of the enterprise, U Tin Win, said 29 privatecompanies, including 18 that started business early this year, applied fornearly one million additional acres of land in March.

In fiscal 1998-1999 the government gave private palm oil growers in thedivision access to 500,000 acres of land, about half of which weresuitable for plantation use.

So far about 120,000 acres have been planted, U Tin Win said.

He said the allocation of extra land would help the government achieve itsplan to have 700,000 acres under palm oil production by 2030.

The goal of the plan is to increase domestic production of edible oil to300,000 tonnes a year to help reduce reliance on imports.

Myanmar consumes 400,000 tonnes of edible oil a year, about half of whichis imported, mainly from Malaysia.

U Tin Win said the government's policy of supporting palm oil growers byproviding loans will also help boost domestic production.

In April 18 private companies applied for loans totalling about K7 billionfrom the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank to help expand theirplantations and set up oil palm extraction factories in Myeik [Mergui],Dawei [Tavoy] and Kawthaung in Tanintharyi Division.

U Tin Win said more than 21,000 acres of plantations in the division wereproducing palm oil.