The Naga Students’ Union has stated its concerns over the “long-term negative impact the commercial cultivation of oil palm could have on our health, forest, biodiversity and quality of soil in Nagaland”. In a press release, NSF mentioned that the Department of Agriculture should exercise “utmost caution” when promoting oil palm cultivation and that it should educate the farmers of the impacts.

“Our rich bio-diversity, flora and fauna, wild fruit plants, rare medicinal plants and the habitat of rare species stands threatened to be annihilated if the plantation drive continues,” it stated.

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The apex Naga students’ body highlighted that Nagaland alone has a total of 5423 hectares under oil palm cultivation across seven districts and that the department is making all efforts to expand the area. It also pointed out that that Nagaland lost a total of 235 sq. km of forest land in the last two years as per the recent report of the Forest survey of India (FSI). “This can be largely attributed to the forest clearing for starting the cultivation of oil palms”, NSF stated.

The federation further mentioned that an oil palm tree requires 200 to 300 litres of water per day and questioned how the State, which faces water scarcity often, can afford such cultivation on a commercial scale.

One cannot also turn a blind eye to other environmental concerns associated with the oil palm cultivation such as soil degradation, water pollution from fertilizers which in turn pose a huge risk to human health, it added.

NSF pressed that the “story of the failure of oil palm cultivation in the state of Mizoram cannot be overlooked” and urged the concern authorities to provide “informed advice to the citizens of the state and not mislead them with promises of ‘economic windfall’.”