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Addressing the media on Friday, Rai said, “State Home Minister in the Belagavi session has said that extending the areca crop cultivation and land for it was of no use. He had said that the areca growers would suffer a lot in the coming days. Such statements by him have brought fear and a sense of insecurity among the areca growers. It should be noted that out of the total areca production in the country, around 50 percent of it grows in Karnataka. In recent times, the areca growers are distressed by the black spot disease in the areca plantation. The rates of farming equipment and fertilizers too have gone high. At this juncture, by his statement, there is a fear that the rate of arecanut will take a dip in the market.”
Lambasting the BJP government he said, “BJP party works according to the whims and fancies of the corporate giants. They are always anti-farmers. While Congress was in power in the state it had implemented support price to the yield. But the BJP government has made the lives of areca growers miserable.”
“If the home minister says that the areca crop is of no use, then why is it being imported and exported? Why is there a black market? We condemn his statements. The Congress Kisan Cell will hold protests at the taluk level of the district on Saturday, December 31.