The Hindu Business Line : `Task force on arecanut waiting for Karnataka Cabinet nod'

APPROVAL of the State Cabinet is awaited for the formation of a task force on arecanut, according to the Principal Secretary, Horticulture, Government of Karnataka, Ms L. Shantha Kumari.

Ms Kumari was inaugurating a national workshop on arecanut, organised by the regional station of the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), at Vittal in Dakshina Kannada district on Monday. She said that names of nine non-official members from arecanut-growing districts have been forwarded to the Cabinet in this regard.

In June, a meeting of cooperatives, MLAs and MPs from arecanut-growing regions with the Agriculture Minister, Mr K. Srinivasa Gowda, had decided to form a task force to look into the problems of arecanut growers. She said that though the Government has come out with market intervention scheme to assist arecanut growers, farmers should also have some in-built mechanism to stabilise the market.

Referring to the suggestions from delegates for setting up a regulatory board on arecanut, on the lines of Coconut Development Board, she said that establishment of such a body may help concentrate specifically on arecanut.

Ms Kumari advised the growers to study the viability of crops before cultivating them. She urged the growers to go in for intercropping in arecanut plantations. They should also take up organic farming and rainwater harvesting, she added.

The Director, CPCRI, Kasaragod, Dr V. Rajagopal, said that diseases, price fluctuation in the market, and inaccuracy in value addition to arecanut are the major weaknesses of the crop.

The President of the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd, Mr L.N. Kudoor, said that private players dominate the Rs 5,000-crore arecanut market in the country, and cooperative institutes in the organised sector constitute only 25 per cent of the total market. Stating that there is no accurate data on production in the country, he said an aerial survey should be conducted to study total area under arecanut production.

The Regional Manager of Syndicate Bank, Mr B.K. Bhat, said that farmers with smallholdings hold most of the arecanut plantations in Karnataka. They do not get required information in time, and research organisations should take initiatives to organise such workshops for them.

Citing the fears among a section of farmers that the increase in the area of arecanut production may affect the prospects of the crop, he said they should give up such beliefs. Rather, steps should be taken to increase the consumer base.

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