03/07/2009 (The International News), Thatta - Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Mohammad Gondal on Thursday performed the ground breaking and foundation stone laying ceremony of the first palm oil mill in Pakistan.

The palm oil mill will be constructed at a cost of Rs59.743 million on an area of 300 acres by the Pakistan Oil Development Board near Ghulamullah town, some 20km from here.

Addressing the occasion, the minister said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had taken keen interest in the cultivation of oil seeds and production of edible oil in Pakistan.

It was the government of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto that had imported palm oil seedlings from Malaysia in 1996 and now President Asif Ali Zardari has taken up this project once again, he said, adding that the present PPP government was striving hard to serve the masses and fulfill the mission of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter.

A sum of Rs2 billion is being spent on the import of edible oil every year, Gondal said adding that after the commissioning of this mill, large amounts of foreign exchange will be saved.

He said that that the land of Thatta and Badin district, especially coastal areas, are extremely suitable for the plantation and production of palm trees.

He said that each tree will give crops up to 25 years and the growers can earn Rs56,000 per acre from this crop each year. He noted that with the progress and prosperity of growers, the entire country will reap the benefits.