Mangalore, April 25: An extensive study to figure out potential profit making alternatives of areca crop is necessary, said Tamil Selvan, Director, Directorate of Areca and Spices, Calicut.
Speaking after inaugurating a seminar on 'Choice of Fertilizers in Areca Farms' organized by Campco Ltd and Areca Research and Development Foundation, Mangalore, in the city on Wednesday, Mr. Selvan said that although arecanut is not injurious to health, the general perception is that since it is used as an ingredient in gutkhas, it is harmful for health and this perception had been hitting the areca business real bad. “Areca as such is not injurious to health. It is tobacco and other ingredients that go into gutkhas that are harmful. Governments are banning gutkhas and hence areca growers are facing problems. The real problem however is that so far a comprehensive study has not been made as to what other alternative means of using areca as a commercial commodity are available”, he said.
Mr. Selvan advised farmers to not depend on areca crop alone and adopt multi-crop system to avoid financial risks caused by marketing issues and also diseases such as 'kole roga'. “Prices are a major problem. 75% of the marketing is done by private parties and the farmers are not getting the retail price that they deserve”, he said, adding that during times when the farmers are concerned about protecting the crop from diseases, the chemical and fertilizer companies exploit them by hiking the prices.
Stating that expansion of cultivation area is not the solution, Mr. Selvan said that it is the increase in productivity using better technology that is more important. “Karnataka produces 2, 58,000 tonnes of areca over an area of 1.95 lakh hectares of land, almost half the areca produce of the country. The right technology and fertilizers will help in increasing productivity”, he said.
Konkodi Padmanabha, President, Campco Ltd, Mangalore presided over the inaugural session.
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