CAMPCO to form special committee for study on areca nut diseases: Kishore Kumar Kodgi

Mangaluru: In pursuit of finding solutions to the various disease affecting the areca nut crop, CAMPCO will form a separate research committee in collaboration with the Arecanut Research Center.

CAMPCO President Kishore Kumar Kodgi, who spoke to Udayavani on the occasion of CAMPCO’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, said that growers are facing problems due to the fall in yield of areca nut crop due to diseases including leaf spot disease and yellow leaf disease. The government is conducting research on this. In addition to this, CAMPCO will also form a separate committee of scientists in cooperation with the Arecanut Research Center and release grants for implementation, he added.

Speaking about CAMPCO’s future plans, Kodgi said “Till now we were only exporting chocolate powder. Now a company in Bangladesh has shown interest in buying our chocolates. Negotiations are in the final stages.” The cooperative has also entered into an agreement to sell its chocolate products in 2,800 stores of Delhi Dairy, he added.

“We have installed sophisticated machinery at our chocolate manufacturing unit at a cost of Rs 10 crore. There are plans to invest Rs 100 crore in the next 5 years,” he said.

Additionally, it has been decided to recruit graduates in horticulture to provide information – training to farmers to facilitate the cultivation of medicinal plants as intercrops in areca nut plantations. Scientists and forest officers have been consulted for growing medicinal plants in areca nut plantations, he said and added that the bylaws of the cooperative will be amended for its implementation.

The minimum import price of areca nut, which is currently at Rs 251 per kg, is expected to rise to Rs 350 per kg. The announcement about the same may be during Union Minister Amit Shah’s visit for the inauguration of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, he said.