Hyderabad, June 24 -- Telangana ministers Tummala Nageswara Rao and N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday, June 23, urged the Centre to take measures to safeguard the interests of oil palm farmers by increasing the import duty on crude palm oil and strengthening procurement support for farmers.

The ministers met Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in New Delhi and submitted representations highlighting issues affecting farmers in the state.

Reduction of import duty on crude palm oil hurting farmers: Tummala

Speaking after the meeting, Tummala said the reduction of import duty on crude palm oil to 16 per cent was adversely affecting oil palm growers. He urged the Centre to raise the duty to 44 per cent, arguing that the move would...