Overall arrivals of arecanut in APMCs across the country recorded a growth of around 9 per cent in 2018, though arrivals in Karnataka, a major producer of the nut, came down by 3.06 per cent during the year.

The arrivals of arecanut stood at 3.24 lakh tonnes in APMCs all over the country from January 1 to December 24 as against 2.96 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period last year — recording a growth of 9.35 per cent.

Karnataka’s APMCs received around 2.20 lakh tonnes (67.82 per cent) of the 3.24 lakh tonnes during 2018. In 2017, APMCs in the State had received 2.27 lakh tonnes. A major decline was witnessed in in the arrivals of red variety of arecanut.

M Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd, told BusinessLine that the arrivals of red variety of arecanut may be less by around 30 per cent compared to the last year.

He said that the price of red variety did not come below ₹320 a kg in 2018. The prices were moving between ₹320 and ₹360. In 2017, the prices remained volatile, and fluctuated from ₹280 to ₹400 a kg for the red variety.

The fruit rot disease in arecanut plantations during the monsoon had impacted the crop this year, leading to a 30 per cent decline in thewhite variety production.

To a query on the arrivals at Campco, he said his co-operative was getting around 6,000 tonnes of arecanut – white and red – during this time of the year earlier. However, around 3,500-4,000 tonnes arrived in its purchasing centres during 2018, he said.

The prices of white arecanut started in the range of around ₹220 a kg in 2018. It was hovering around ₹270 a kg in December.

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