Impose hefty import duty on arecanut: Karnataka MP tells Centre

BJP Lok Sabha member from Shivamogga B Y Raghavendra on Thursday urged the Centre to impose hefty import duty on foreign arecanuts to arrest falling prices of the produce in the domestic market.

Raghavendra raised the issue during the Zero Hour, highlighting the crisis faced by areca growers in Karnataka.

Raghavendra said that in the first week of September this year, the price of arecanut was Rs 58,000 per quintal.

But it dropped to Rs 39,000 per quintal in the second week of December due to arrival of low-quality arecanuts from neighbouring countries.

He also said that arecanut crop had suffered heavily in the state due to yellow leaf disease.

This year, the arecanut yield has declined by 50 per cent due to the disease.

The MP urged the Central government to introduce scientifically developed pesticides to control the yellow leaf disease and sought a ban on the arrival of low-quality arecanuts from foreign countries.

Arecanut is grown in 16 districts of the state and around 10 lakh families are dependent on the crop for their livelihood.

Karnataka accounts for 69 per cent of the total arecanut production in the country, which is around 16.5 lakh metric tonnes.

The total value of the produce is around Rs 8,250 crore in a year and its by-products contribute Rs 24,750 crore to the exchequer in the form of GST and cess, Raghavendra said.