The areca growers should get ready for a movement in order to get proper market for the areca  they grow and to oppose the import of areca from foreign countries, said Horanadu Annapoorneshwari Temple Dharmadarshi Bheemeshwara Joshi.
He was speaking after inaugurating the areca purchase centre of  Campco at Sri Vidya Ganapathi Samudaya Bhavana in Balehonnur on Friday.
Areca growers in Malnad are leading a miserable life due to the fall in the price of areca, rot diseases and natural calamities. If a permanent solution is not found to these problems, there will be a time when areca crop should be seen only on pictures, he observed.
Speaking on the occasion, Campco President S R Rangamurthy said the purchase centre opened in Balehonnur is the 192nd centre. It is pride that Campco has more than one lakh members with it, he added. Zilla Panchayat former vice-president M S Channakeshava Gowda, Campco General Manager A S Bhat, B Kanaburu Gram Panchayat President John D’Souza spoke.