The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd has welcomed the announcement of the Karnataka Government to allocate ₹10 crore for the development of new technology for the management of diseases affecting the arecanut crop.

Presenting the Karnataka Budget for 2023-24 on Friday, Basavaraja Bommai, Chief Minister, said an assistance of ₹10 crore will be provided to the Agriculture and Horticulture Research Centre at Theerthahalli in Shivamogga district to develop new technology for the management of diseases affecting arecanut crops and also to enhance productivity.

Welcoming this proposal, Kishore Kumar Kodgi, President of Campco, said the Campco was looking forward to grants towards research to the Mangaluru-based Arecanut Research and Development Foundation (ARDF).

Onslaught of diseases

The grants have been allotted to manage pest infestation in arecanut. Campco welcomes the allocation of funds by the government towards research, which shows the commitment of the government in responding to the arecanut growers’ plight, Kodgi said. “I feel that this is a good and balanced budget as it has provided funding to agriculture as well as to other sectors,” Kodgi said.

The arecanut sector has been witnessing the onslaught of diseases such as yellow leaf disease, leaf-spot disease, and fruit rot disease in recent years. There were demands from the stakeholders such as arecanut cooperatives and farmers’ organisations to find a permanent solution to these diseases.

Kodgi had also brought the issues related to diseases in arecanut plantations to the notice of the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje, at the recently concluded agri machinery fair in Puttur of Dakshina Kannada district.

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