Oil palm zirchianna: A hlawk reng em? Sawrkar hian hmarchhak state hi enchhin nan min hmang em?

P. Lalpekhhlui leh Timothy Khongsai,

North Eastern Social Research Centre (NESRC), Guwahati

Contact: nnlalpek05@gmail.com, tmothylh@gmail.com

A ṭobul

Tun hnaiah oil palm hi khawvela hriak nei thlai (vegetable oil) pawimawh ber a ni a. Hmanna tam tak neiin - ei leh in siamchhuah nan leh ei tur ni lo thil dang tam tak siam nan hman tel a ni bawk. Ei theih hriak (edible oil), biscuit, chips mai bakah kan ni tin hman ṭhin sahbawn, cosmetic thlengin oil palm hmanga siam tam tak a tel a ni. Heng kan tarlante mai bakah a hnah leh a kungte thleng hian hman ṭangkaina tam tak a nei bawk.

Oil palm hi keini hmarchhak miten kan hmelhriat hma daihin khawthlang lamah chuan an lo hmang ṭangkai daih tawh a. A ṭobul tlem han chhui dawn ila. Kum 1763 khan Dutch botanist Nikolaus Jacquin chuan Africa chhim lam tuipui kam, Guinea ramah he thing hi a hmuh hmasak ber ṭumin Elaeis guineensis scientific hming a lo phuah a ni (Robins, 2021, p. 2). Sawi danah chuan oil palm hi West Africa hnam hrang hrangte nunphung leh rinna tam tak nena inzawm tlata sawi tel a ni bawk. Mahse, khawvel pum huapa tidarhzautute erawh European sumdawngte an ni. Sumdawnna lamah a hlutna hriain kum zabi 16-na aṭang khan West Africa aṭangin Europe ramah oil palm an la lut ṭan a, chuta ṭang chuan oil palm hmanga sumdawnna pawh a lo zau chho ta hle a ni. Indonesia leh Malaysia lamah te sengluh niin, tunah chuan khawvel huapa palm oil pe chhuak nasa ber an lo ni ta.

India ram pawhin ei theih hriak hi hemi ram pahnih (Indonesia leh Malaysia) aṭangin a la lut nasa ber bawk. Kum 2022 (October)-2023 (October) inkarah ringawt pawh vaibelchhe 138,000 man a lalut a, heng zinga metric ton maktaduai 9.79 emaw hmun nga ṭhena hmun thum chu palm oil a ni a, Indonesia leh Malaysia aṭanga lakluh a ni ber (Rajshekhar, 2024). Hemi harsatna sutkian nan hian sawrkar chuan ei theih hriak (edible oil) intodelh nan thapui nasa tak a lo thawh tawh bawk a ni. Sawi zel danah chuan ram chhunga oil palm chin tam hian ram economy a siam danglam thei mai bakah, intodelhna leh kuthnathawktute tan eizawnna ngelnghet a siamsak thei tura sawi a ni bawk.

Policies

India sawrkar chuan kum 1991 leh 1992 inkarah ei theih hriak tihpun leh lakluh (import) tihtlem nan hmalakna hrang hrang a lo nei tawh a. Chu'ngte chu: Technology Mission on Oil Seed & Pulses (TMOP) te, kum 2004-a Integrated Scheme on Oil Seeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize (ISOPOM) leh a dangte pawh. Heng scheme te hi kalpui chhunzawm zel a ni a, kum 2021-a National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) hnuhnung ber chu state sawm leh pathum - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, leh Manipur-ah te kalpui a ni. NMEO-OP hnuaiah hian India hmarchhak leh Andaman & Nicobar Islands-tan ruahmanna bik siam a ni. Mizoram hi he hmarchhak state-a oil palm ching hmasa ber a ni a, India hmarchhak lamah pawh ‘pioneer’ tia hriat a ni. Meghalaya sawrkar chuan he hmalakna hi environment a nghawng avangin an lo hnawl tawh bawk. Mizoram hnuah Arunachal Pradesh-ah kum 2012 khan oil palm chin tan a ni. Tunah Assam leh Nagaland lamah pawh nasa takin hma an la ve bawk.

A thatna leh thatlohnate

Oil palm ṭhatna leh ṭhat lohna zir chiang tur hian kum 2023 December thla aṭang khan India hmarchhak state Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram leh Nagaland-te tlawh kualin stakeholders hrang hrangte kawm kualin hun kan lo hmang ve a. Oil palm hian ṭangkaina tam tak nei mah se, a ṭhatna leh ṭhat lohna chungchangah hian inhnialna tam tak awmin, a tawp mai pawh a rinawm lo. Ram economy-ah nasa takin a thawhhlawk niin sawi awm bawk mah se, nghawng (effect) nasa tak a nei ve tho tih hi kan hriat a ṭha hle a ni.

Zir mite sawi danah chuan Indonesia ramah chuan oil palm vanga ram zau zel hian ramngaw nasa takin a tichhia a, chu chuan ramngaw kang nasa tak a thlen mai bakah, company te chuan a ram neitu dik tak (indigenous) te ram laksak (violation of indigneous rights) a hluar em em bawk a ni (Li, 2018, p .4). Patrick Rouxel-a film “Green” (2009), chuan Indonesia ramah orangutan population a nghawng nasatzia chiang takin a tarlang bawk.

India hmarchhakah pawh hian heng kan sawi takte hi a thleng ve mek niin a lang. Fieldwork neia kan zin kualnaah, lo neitu kan kawm ṭhenkhatte chuan ‘Oil palm rah hi Sanghal hian an duh em em a, sanghal a pung nasat rualin, ramsa ṭhenkhatte erawh rèm lam an pan thung’ niin an sawi. Hei hian kan ecosystem nasa takin a nghawng theih mai bakah heng monocrop plantations kan tih-oil palm, coffee leh rubber plantation-te hian nungcha hrang hrang a tichimit a ni.

Heng bakah heng kan zirchianna aṭanga kan hmuchhuah pawimawh tak te chu: Oil palm hi sawrkar hmalakna a nih avangin pawisa a tam em em a, amaherawhchu a policy implement-na erawh a intluktlang lo em em a ni. Oil palm hi thingkung lian tak ram awh zau em em mai a ni a, ram nei zau te tan chuan hlawk viau laiin, ram nei zau lo tan erawh chuan a hlawk phah em em lo a ni. Fur laia kawngchhia hian oil palm chingtute tan harsatna tam tak a thlen bawk. Fur ruahtui tam lai hi a rah (FFBs) thar tam duh hun lai niin, amaherawhchu, kawng chhiat avangin a chingtuten duh angin an hralh thei lo fo bawk.

Chu mai bakah, a policy hnuaiah hian hmeichhe lo neitu tan 30 percent hamṭhatna (benefits) siamsak an ni. Amaherawhchu oil palm hi Public-Private Partnership (PPP) niin, ram neitute chu ‘chhungkaw pa ber’/mipa an nih deuh vek avangin, hemichhiate tan hamṭhatna/hmasawnna a thlen tak tak pha lo. A pawimawh ber chu keini hmarchak lama chengte chuan ram enkawl dan (traditional land management system) nei kan ni a, he oil palm hian he kan ram inrelbawl (land management system) danah hian nghawng nasa tak a thlen bawk a ni. Oil palm hi mahni mimal ramah ching tam tak awm mah se, sawrkarin flagship programme hnuaiah sawrkar emaw khawtlang ram (community-land) te pawh mimal (individual) a pek tam tak an awm bawk. He hian hun lo kal zelah ram indaih lohna nasa tak min thlen thei bawk.

Oil palm hi tui mamawh hnem em em thlai a ni a, India hmarchhak lamah chuan ruahtui hmangin chawm ber an ni. Oil palm neitute chuan tanky nei deuh vekin, ṭhal hun laia tui an chhek khawl zawng zawng oil palm an pek zawh vek chuan, thlai tam tak a chim ral thei bawk. Hmun ṭhenkhatah chuan oil palm chauh lo, heng monocrop plantation-te reng reng hian thlai dangte mai bakah ramsate chenna tur hmun leh, an chaw zawnna thleng a tihbuai avangin Assam ramah chuan mihring leh ramsa inkarah ram inchuhna (Human-Animal conflict) vangah mihring nunna chan hial sawi tur an awm bawk.

A pawimawh ber chu he leilung kan chenna hi keini mihringte tan chauh a, Siamtuin a duan a ni lo a, heng sawrkar aṭanga hamṭhatna lo kalte hi reilote hlawkna (short-term profit) chauh ngaituah lovin, kan ram tan eng nge a nghawng thei, kan leilung nen a inmil em, mi zawng zawng thleng phak hlawkna a ni em? tih ngaihtuah thiam a pawimawh em em a ni. Sawrkar pawh hian keini hmarchhak state te hi enchhin nan min hmang nasa em em a ni. Oil palm hma hian coffee plantation, rubber plantation, jatropha te pawh. A hlawkpui tur dik tak te hian an hlawkpui em tih hi kan inzawh chian a pawimawh em em a ni.

References:

• Robins, J. E. (2021). Oil Palm: A Global History. USA: University of Carolina Press.
• Li, T. M. (2018). Contested Commodification: Struggles over Nature in a National Park. New York: Cornell University Press.
• Rajshekhar, M. (2024, 24 Jan). ‘How India’s Palm Oil Push is Changing Land Relations in the North East’, Carboncopy Making Climate Sense. Retrieved from https://carboncopy.info/how-in....