Aayush, an organic manure product of CAMPCO, Mangaluru. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd. (CAMPCO), Mangaluru, will release sterilised whole black pepper sachets of 30 grams each into the all-India market next month, according to its president Kishore Kumar Kodgi.
“The sterilised pepper is a pure hygienic product,” Mr. Kodgi told The Hindu adding that initially the cooperative will release two lakh sachets to the market. Its marketing will be scaled up based on the demand.
“The consumer and kitchen-friendly sachets will be available in roll form,” he said.
In addition, it will release into Karnataka and Kerala markets next month its organic manure ‘Aayush’ and the mixture fertilizer ‘Poushtika’ (which is Zinc and Boron based fertiliser) for applying to horticultural crops, he said.
The samples of these two products (organic manure and mixture fertilizer) were launched during the annual general meeting of the cooperative in Mangaluru in September, 2023.
Both the products can be applied for arecanut, coconut, vegetables and other horticultural crops, he said.
The organic manure having 14 ingredients comes in a 50 kg bag. It has been released in Puttur region in Dakshina Kannada on a pilot basis, Mr. Kodgi said.
“We have sold 100 tonnes of Aayush so far,” the Agriculture Officer of the cooperative Krishna said.
The mixture fertilizer in granule form for soil application is sold in a 10 kg bag. Its main ingredients are zinc and boron. The soil of the coastal belt lacks zinc and boron contents. The coastal soil does not require iron and manganese contents. Hence, the micronutrient product will be released for the use of coastal farmers, Agriculture Officer said.
The CAMPCO recommends applying the organic manure of 2 kg per adult arecanut palm twice a year – between April and June (pre-monsoon) and between September and December (post-monsoon). If it is an arecanut plant, the application will be a kg per sapling.
The application of both the organic manure and mixture fertilizer differs per crop based on adult and young plants, he said.
CAMPCO is releasing organic manure and a micronutrient product (mixture fertilizer) as its second and third farm application product after the release of copper sulphate long ago.
