Campco to export two tonnes of areca to China

Campco to export two tonnes of areca to China

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, June 23, 2016: Briefing media on June 21 Tuesday, Campco president S R Satishchandra said that  The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd will export its first consignment of two tonnes of processed tender arecanut to China in the first week of August, on a trial basis.

 

Processed tender arecanut will be used in China for preparing mouth-fresheners. The cooperative will now procure the tender arecanut required for the first consignment to export from Thondamuthur area in Tamil Nadu and Wayanad in Kerala.

Campco former president Konkodi Padmanabha, who was the part of the delegation from Campco that which visited China recently, said the Kou Wei Wang (King of Taste) Company had entered into an MoU with Campco to process and export two metric tonnes of tender arecanut.

Training : "The Chinese company will depute experts to Campco in order to impart training on processing and standardisation of products of their requirement in the month of July. In China, arecanut is grown to the tune of 1,22,000 metric tonne in the Hunan province. There is great demand for processed tender arecanut in China. If we are able to export at least 20 per cent of the tender arecanut, then it would help in maintaining stability in the price of arecanut in the domestic market," he predicted.

A delegation from Campco visited the province for six days from June 13 to 18 and held talks with the Kou Wei Wang company on making the proposal a reality. The cooperative and the company have held three rounds of talks to this effect since July last year.

Satishchandra said that Kou Wei Wang has been facing shortage of raw material to supply to the remaining states in China. "As Campco alone cannot process the quantity of arecanut required for the export, the central and state governments should make arrangements to depute selected arecanut growers to China for a study tour with regard to processing and standardisation of arecanut. The cooperative, which is indulging in the purchase of arecanut, should make a decisive plan on sending progressive farmers to China to help them study arecanut processing. The Karnataka State Arecanut Cooperative Societies Federation, Shivamogga, is ready to extend all cooperation to the interested cooperative societies in this regard," he added.

The president said that there are rumours on arecanut having content of carcinogens and a case is pending in the Supreme Court. "In China, however, arecanut is grown as a medicinal plant and explanation to this effect is found in various books of medicinal uses. A medicinal book called ’Compondium of materia medica’, in its IV volume, clearly explains the medicinal value of the arecanut. We will produce it as a document to support our stand in the Supreme Court where a case on arecanut is pending,".