The Union Government will send a team of experts to Karnataka on November 22 to study the impact of leaf spot disease on areca plantations in the Malnd region, said Home Minister Araga Jnanendra.
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Mr. Jnanendra, who is also chairman of the Arecanut Task Force, informed mediapersons in Shivamogga on November 17, that the team would visit Koppa in Chikkamagaluru district and parts of Agumbe Hobli in Thirthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district. The team would also meet him and the Deputy Commissioner of Shivamogga.
He appealed to areca farmers not to panic about the impact of leaf spot disease. The government had been providing medicine free of cost to avoid spread of the disease. “We need to carry out research on the disease and come up with a medicine to counter its spread,” he said.
The Minister said the Karnataka Government would take a decision on the demand for compensation to farmers who incurred loss due to damage to crop. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai would be visiting Thirthahalli on November 27, and the issue would be taken up with him on that day.