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The Government has increased the minimum price for the import of arecanut by Rs 35 a kg.
The May 13 notification by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said that the minimum price for import of arecanuts is enhanced from the existing Rs 75 a kg to Rs 110 a kg.
(In a notification dated August 14 2012, the DGFT had increased the minimum price for arecanut import from Rs 35 a kg to Rs 75 a kg.)
Seeking strict measures to curb the import of arecanut into the country, around 50 parliamentarians had submitted a memorandum to the Government in March this year.
They had demanded that keeping in mind the cost of cultivation the minimum price for the import of arecanut be fixed at Rs 125 a kg.
Thanking the Government, MPs and the DGFT for increasing the minimum price for import, K. Padmanabha, president of Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd, told Business Line that this move would help boost the market sentiments.
Manchi Srinivasa Achar, president of All-India Areca Growers’ Association, said that strict measures should be taken to implement the DGFT notification at all levels as the imported quantities of arecanut are affecting the prospects of domestic growers.
Ramesh Kaintaje, an arecanut grower from Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, said that the production cost of the commodity has gone up significantly over the past few years. The cost of fertilizer has more than doubled in the last three years, and the wages for unskilled labour have also seen a steep hike. In such a situation, the imported arecanut is affecting the domestic growers.
On Tuesday, the old stocks of white arecanut were commanding a maximum price of Rs 194, Rs 195 and Rs 198 a kg at the Mangalore, Puttur and Bantwal agriculture produce marketing committees, respectively.
Kaintaje hoped that the DGFT move would help retain the prices of the commodity in the higher range in the coming days.
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