The Hindu Business Line : Campco to procure cocoa from AP

Mangalore, Sept. 21 After Karnataka and Kerala, now the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd (Campco) is planning to enter the Andhra Pradesh market for procuring cocoa.

Mr S.R. Rangamurthy, President of Campco, told Business Line here on Saturday that the Andhra Pradesh Government has invited Campco to procure cocoa from growers in that State.

“We will conduct a survey in Andhra Pradesh in a month. After that we will place it before our board, and take a decision on venturing into that market,” he said.

The cooperative wants a minimum 5,000 tonnes of cocoa a year. “We get around 3,500 tonnes of domestic cocoa a year,” he said.

The country’s production of cocoa is still within 10,000 tonnes. However, the Indian industry requires around 30,000 tonnes of cocoa a year, he said.

More production

Mr Rangamurthy suggested that more cocoa production should be taken up by farmers as there is wide gap in production and requirement. It can be grown as an intercrop in arecanut plantations.

Regarding the chocolate factory of Campco at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, he said the Rs 25-crore worth finished products from the factory were sold during 2007-08. Campco has set a target of Rs 40 crore for the current fiscal, he said.

Diversification plans

He said the 34th annual general meeting of the cooperative has given its approval for entering into rubber business.

Campco has infrastructure related to purchasing and selling of the commodity as it deals in other commodities such as arecanut and cocoa. Most farmers in its command area grow rubber together with arecanut and cocoa.

With the Indian arecanut market facing challenges from other countries, it is essential for the cooperative to diversify into other commodities. However, he made it clear that arecanut will remain the first priority for the cooperative.

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