Mangaluru: After being denied by the government for two consecutive years, Chief Whip of MLC Ivan D’Souza finally got the green signal for the establishment of a committee for the welfare of areca growers. The Areca Growers Committee will be established after the next budget.
A hundred page report on areca farming and it’s contribution to the economy has been submitted by Dr. D L Maheshwar, the Registrar of Agriculture Sciences university, Bagalkot. He has mentioned in his report that India is the largest contributor in growing areca all over the world. He also mentioned that Karnataka itself produces 49% of the total areca yield of India.
“In 20 years, there has been an increase three times of what it was in 1996. Over the years, along with the production, there has been a significant increase in the demand and price. This is the exact reason why we should have an areca board for areca trade to work smoothly. The Chief Minister of Karnataka is looking into the report and funds will be allocated in the 2017-18 budget and the headquarters of the board will be in Mangaluru”, Ivan D’Souza said.
“The central government must establish a board for areca growers on a national level. Since areca is a commercial crop like tea and coffee, an areca board is essential on a national scale”, he added.
According to what Ivan said, there are 35 countries using areca grown in India and the areca board will help in managing demand and supply of areca both domestically and internationally. “The board will also help in finding more markets for Indian areca, in-turn helping our economy grow”, Ivan concluded.
