CAMPCO meets government’s white arecanut procurement target

CAMPCO meets government’s white arecanut procurement target

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, May 20: Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (CAMPCO) Ltd. will temporarily stop procuring white arecanut from farmers in DK, Uttar a Kannada, and Udupi as per the government’s market intervention scheme (MIS) with effect from Thursday. A. S. Bhat, the managing director of CAMPCO, informed journalists that this is because the cooperative has already met the government’s target. 

The government had appointed CAMPCO as the nodal agency to procure white arecanut under MIS. According, CAMPCO was procuring white arecanut at the rate of Rs 75 per kg. The government had set a target of 4,000 tonnes for CAMPCO between Feb 16, 2010 and April 17, 2010. During this period, the cooperative procured 1,480.5 tonnes of white arecanut. The government extended the procurement period to June 30 and revised the target to 6,500 quintals, a target that CAMPCO achieved on Wednesday. For this reason, CAMPCO has decided to temporarily stop procuring white arecanut. Konkodi Padmanabha, the president of CAMPCO, said that the cooperative will start procuring white arecanut once again if the government revised the target. 

Mr. Bhat said that the cooperative was procuring white arecanut at 14 centres—Kumta and Honnavar in Uttara Kannada, Karkala and Kundapur in Udupi, and Adyanadka, Belthangady, Baikampady, Mudipu, Kadaba, Puttur, Padpinangady, Sullia, Vitla, and Uppinangady in DK.

He also said that the government has released Rs 8 crore of the stipulated Rs 16 crore for procurement of white arecanut.