An Indonesian delegation visited the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd in Mangaluru on Thursday to study the cooperative model in arecanut sector.
M Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of Campco, told BusinessLine that Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture had approached the Indian embassy seeking information on arecanut cooperatives.
Following this, the Indonesian officials were directed to Campco.
Bhandary said the Indonesian government is interested in bringing arecanut sector in that country under the cooperative network.
As of now, there is no organised market for arecanut in Indonesia.
Since there are no buyers in that country, growers supply the produce to international traders at cheaper rates. These traders transport it illegally to countries such as India, he said.
“If the Indonesian government comes out with a proper set-up for buying, arecanut will not be available for illegal traders there,” he said.