Campco to procure areca nuts from doorsteps of farmers

The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Limited (Campco) has initiated a pilot project to procure areca nuts from doorsteps of farmers.

The initiative of procuring areca nuts from the houses of farmers drew a positive response in Puttur and Vittal, where it was launched earlier.

The initiative will be taken up on a full-fledged manner by December when the harvest process has been completed in the district and it is ready for sale.

According to Campco President S R Sathishchandra, the farmers keen on selling areca nuts to Campco need to contact the local branch of Campco and it will dispatch its staff and truck to the house of farmers to procure them.

The areca nuts will be graded in the yard of the farmer, weighed and taken to the Campco branch. The amount will be credited to the account of farmers. Campco will collect minimum transportation cost from farmers, he explained.

The farmers were facing a lot of problems while transporting areca nuts for sale due to shortage of labourers. Elderly farmers were finding it all the more difficult to reach the nearest town in order to sell them, he added.

The initiative also aims at preventing farmers from being exploited by middlemen. Usually, middlemen reach out to farmers and purchase areca nuts by paying in advance. Due to the middleman lobby, the farmers were not getting the right price for their produce. Campco pays market price for the farmers.

Campco president said, “By procuring areca nuts from the farmers' doorsteps, Campco can expand its area coverage.”