The Hindu Business Line : Indonesia, top exporter of arecanut to India

Mangalore, June 27 It’s official. India imported 53,275 tonnes of arecanut during 2005-06, with Indonesia contributing a major share of 74.26 per cent for this.

What is shocking for the domestic arecanut sector is that the commodity was imported at much below the cost of production.

The Arecanut and Spices Database, prepared by the Kozhikode-based Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development (DASD), shows that Indonesia exported 39,564 tonnes of arecanut to India during 2005-06, where as the total production of the commodity stood at 42,000 tonnes during 2004 in that country.

That means more than 90 per cent of arecanut produced in that country was exported to India.

During 2005-06, Bangladesh exported 8,041 tonnes of arecanut followed by Thailand at 3,088 tonnes and Myanmar at 1,277 tonnes. Surprisingly,

Nepal exported 636 tonnes of arecanut to India, whereas the country does not figure in the list of arecanut-producing countries.

CHEAP IMPORT

India imported 53,275 tonnes of arecanut at Rs 72.28 crore. This works out to Rs 13.56 a kg, which is much below the cost of production.

Indonesian arecanut was exported at Rs 12.67 a kg during 2005-06.

The database gives the cost of production of arecanut at Rs 46.77 a kg.

The DASD took Malappuram in Kerala as the study area during 2005 for working out the cost of production of the commodity.

However, while introducing the market intervention scheme by the Union Ministry of Agriculture, through the Karnataka Government, during 2002, the cost of production was worked out at Rs 60 a kg for white arecanut and Rs 85 a kg for red arecanut. The market intervention scheme and the market support price scheme were implemented at the same rates in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

STEADY GROWTH

While the arecanut imports witnessed a steady growth from 2001-02 to 2005-06, the unit value for the commodity came down each year.

During 2001-02, the country imported 14,788 tonnes of arecanut at Rs 17.59 a kg.

The imports witnessed a growth of 45.06 per cent during 2002-03, and the country imported 21,452 tonnes at Rs 16.80 a kg.

The year 2003-04 saw a growth of 30.32 per cent in imports with 27,957 tonnes of the commodity reaching the Indian market at Rs 13.78 a kg.

While the imports witnessed a growth of 14.90 per cent during 2004-05, it saw a big jump of 65.84 per cent during 2005-06.

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Indonesia, top exporter of arecanut to India