Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has instructed Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd. (CAMPCO) to resume procurement of white arecanut under the market intervention scheme (MIS) of the Government, a release by the cooperative on Thursday said.
Accordingly, the cooperative will purchase white arecanut from farmers in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts from May 24 to June 30.
Target achieved
Earlier, the cooperative had decided to temporarily suspend procurement from Thursday, as it had achieved the target set by the Government.
The cooperative has so far purchased 2,130 tonnes of white arecanut worth Rs. 16.11 crore from 9,592 farmers between February 16 and May 19. Of the Rs. 16.11 crore, the Government had released Rs. 8 crore to the cooperative. The balance had been adjusted by the cooperative from its own resources, the release said.
Managing Director of CAMPCO A.S. Bhat told The Hindu that the president of the cooperative, Konkodi Padmanabha, spoke to the Chief Minister on the phone on Wednesday. The latter orally instructed the company to resume procurement till June-end. The Chief Minister is yet to specify the quantity of white arecanut to be procured during the extended period.
The Government has appointed CAMPCO as the nodal agency for procuring white arecanut under the MIS. It was procuring the produce at Rs. 75 a kg, which had been fixed by the Government.
Mr. Padmanabha said that initially, the Government had asked the cooperative to procure 4,000 tonnes of white arecanut between February 16 and April 17. However, the procurement during that period was only 1,480.50 tonnes. Later, the Government extended the procurement period from April 18 to June 30 and fixed the quantity at 650 tonnes, which was achieved by the cooperative on Wednesday, he said.
