Value-added products to help boost arecanut potential

The rise of the young population in India provides an opportunity for stakeholders in the arecanut sector to explore the potential of value-added arecanut products, according to Vigenshwara Varmudy, agro-economist and professor of economics from Dakshina Kannada.

Speaking on ‘challenges before the arecanut sector’ at a function to celebrate ‘Campco (Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative) formation day’ in Mangaluru on Monday, Varmudy said that the country’s arecanut production, which was around 1 lakh tonnes during the 70s, has gone up to around 8 lakh tonnes per annum now.

In the meantime, there has been a considerable increase in the percentage of youths. They constitute around 65 per cent of the population in the country. Most of these people do not prefer arecanut in its raw form. They prefer consuming it in the form of value-added products.

To counter misconceptions about arecanut and to boost the production of value-added products, it is essential for all the stakeholders to highlight the medicinal values of arecanut, he said. Varmudy felt that domestic rules and international agreements sometimes pose other challenges to the arecanut sector.

To counter this, it is essential for the participants in the sector to provide proper information on the production figures of the commodity and the number of people dependent on it.

A proper documentation of the commodity from production till marketing and consumption will help tackle such issues, he said.

Stating that a lot of research has been done on production of the commodity, he urged the arecanut market participants to focus on research and development activities in marketing also.

The former Managing Director of Campco, AS Bhat, spoke on the origin and development of Campco from 1973 to 2016. Campco was registered on July 11, 1973.

From this year, the cooperative has decided to celebrate July 11 as ‘Campco Formation Day’.

SR Satishchandra, Campco president, and Suresh Bhandary, MD of the cooperative, spoke on the occasion. 

Source : BusinessLine