14/09/2015 (Hindu Business Line) - The Telangana Rythu Sangham has alleged that the oil palm farmers in the district were incurring huge losses due to the failure of the State Oil Federation’s oil palm factory in Aswaraopeta to process the fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) in time.

Talking to newsmen here on Sunday, the Rythu Sangham State assistant secretary Nunna Nageswara Rao, district president M Ramesh and others alleged that the oil palm growers were paying a heavy price for no fault of theirs. Thousands of tonnes of FFBs brought to the factory by the farmers perished due to the inability of the plant to process the FFBs in time owing to its low crushing capacity in the current harvest season so far.

This has resulted in the damage of enormous quantity of FFBs worth about Rs. 2 crore, they charged. The inordinate delay in setting up the second oil palm factory has further aggravated the plight of oil palm growers, they alleged, demanding that the government should make alternative arrangements to ensure prompt processing of FFBs for avoiding further losses to the oil palm growers.

They sought construction of the second oil palm factory on a war footing in Dammapeta mandal.