Mangaluru: Thousands of families who survive on the cultivation of arecanut are not receiving the right price for their produce in the market and facing much difficulty. Therefore the union government must mediate immediately and announce a support price as well as a special package for arecanut cultivators, urged Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar.
Speaking at the zero hour during the Lok Sabha session the MP said, middlemen in the country are circumventing the customs officials and illegally importing low quality arecanut through the border areas from countries like Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. Meanwhile the domestic production of arecanut is plagued with Kole roga and yellow leaf disease because of which the prices of domestic arecanut has fallen in the market. The illegal import of arecanut being conducted by middlemen by cheating the customs officials is causing a loss of more than Rs 5,000 crore to the central government, he said.
The union government should give special attention towards stopping the illegal import of low quality arecanut from abroad and also conduct a special investigation regarding this. The low quality arecanut being imported illegally into India must be banned completely, he urged the central government.
