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After purchasing arecanut from growers amidst the lockdown last week, the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd was not in a position to process them due to the lockdown directives.
An order of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), dated April 16, has helped it to tide over this situation now. The MHA order exempted the harvesting, processing, packaging, sale and marketing of some plantation crops, including arecanut, from the lockdown.
Terming the recent MHA order as a welcome move, Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of Campco, told BusinessLine that the order allows the cooperative to carry out other works such as processing, packaging, sale and marketing of arecanut.
It may be mentioned here that the cooperative had initiated the process of buying arecanut from grower-members last week to help them earn their livelihood during the lockdown. It had taken permission from the district administrations in Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod in this regard.
Stating that garbling of arecanut procured from growers is an important step in the processing of arecanut, he said without this the commodity cannot be stored for long. Garbling is a 100 per cent manual operation, and this process helps extend the shelf-life to a year.
Following the MHA order, the cooperative will approach the authorities concerned seeking permission for other operations such as processing, he said.
Meanwhile, the authorities concerned in Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod districts have allowed the cooperative to procure arecanut at some more centres, in addition to those permitted last week.
In the recent virtual meeting of grower-members conducted by Campco, they had demanded that the Campco procure commodity from more centres during the lockdown.
K Deviprasad, President of Punacha Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS), had even asked the cooperative to procure the commodity through PACS in that meeting.
As a result of this, the cooperative decided to buy the commodity through some primary agriculture cooperative societies last week.
Deviprasad told BusinessLine that his PACS has begun procurement of arecanut for Campco from April 20. His PACS will buy a maximum of ₹25,000 worth arecanut from 20 farmers in a day. While the PACS will pay the amount to the grower now, Campco will repay the amount to PACS in three months, he said.
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