Fruit rot disease or ‘kole roga’ in arecanut palms during rainy season can be brought under control through an organic spray developed by a private company here if the filed trials proved a success.
Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, Konkodi Padmanabha, President, the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd (CAMPCO) said that laboratory trials by the company has become a success. The company was yet to go for filed trails which could be done in the coming rainy season. As the laboratory trail was success the cooperative would extend some financial support to the company for the field trials, he said.
Traditionally farmers sprayed copper sulphate lime mixture or solution to control the disease. So far no organic spray has been released to control the disease. If the field trails were success there would be an alternative solution to control the disease.
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To a question he said that a case pertaining to Ankur Gutka vs India Asthama Care Society and others pending before the Supreme Court would come up for next hearing on March 25. The CAMPCO has impeded in the same case not to ban arecanut. He said so far the Union government has not filed any supplementary affidavit before the court (pressing that arecanut is not injurious to health) relating to the case.
Recently Union Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, D.V. Sadananda Gowda had stated in Vitla that the government would file a supplementary affidavit before the court if possible in January.