Seminar held for arecanut farmers in Mangalore

Seminar held for arecanut farmers in Mangalore

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, April 25, 2012: Tamil Selvan, the director of the Directorate of Areca and Spices (Calicut), inaugurated a seminar on Plant Protection Chemicals and Fertilizers to Arecanut Farmers held in Mangalore on April 25 Wednesday.

Delivering the inaugural address on the occasion, he said that many people feel that arecanut is harmful to health because it is used in the preparation of ghuka, adding that ingredients such as tobacco in ghutka are harmful, not the arecanut. Speaking about the adverse effects of ban on ghutka, he said that arecanut farmers do not know how to make alternative uses of areacanut. He also suggested that an intense study must be made on alternative uses of arecanut.

 

 

Half of India’s arecanut is produced in Karntaka, but private agencies do 75 percent of the marketing, owing to which farmers do not get the proper price for their products, he said.

Mr. Selvan also suggested that farmers must adopt multi crop farming and good cultivation technology as the demand for arecanut is still high in spite of the ban on ghutka. Pointing out that Kerala, Assam, and Karnataka were the only arecanut growing states in India in the past, he said that now almost every state has arecanut plantations. Besides, India imports 72,000 tons of areca, which makes arecanut a very profitable crop for farmers.

Experts spoke on a wide range of topics during the seminar. Vinayaka Hegde of the Central Plantations Crops Research Institute spoke on the topic “Integrated Management of Koleroga of Arecanut: An Overview.” Dr. Ravi Bhat, the senior scientist, spoke on “Management of Arecanut Fertility” and Dr. H. Narayanswamy, the botanist, spoke on “Usage of Bordeaux and Various Anti Fungus Medicine and Financial Aspects.”

Konkodi Padmanabha, the president of Campco Limited, presided over the inauguration ceremony.