Decision to import areca from Bhutan upsets Malnad farmers

Chikkamagaluru: Farmers engaged in the cultivation of areca, a commercial crop, in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Shivamogga districts, are fuming over the Union government’s decision to import areca nuts from neighbouring Bhutan. Already reeling under huge losses owing to the blight that struck their areca farms, reports of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) allowing the import of 17,000 metric tonnes of green areca from Bhutan at prices lower than the minimum import price – the lower cap on the price to be paid for crops being imported. Although the farmers are grumbling about the Centre’s decision, the authorities affirmed that the move would not impact the domestic market.
K Sundresh Gowda, who grows areca in Sringeri taluk in Chikkamagaluru district, sought to draw attention to the loss that farmers such as himself and other had sustained owing to fruit rot, or yellow leaf disease. “Now, this move by the government has only compounded our problem. I cultivate areca across 10 acres, and usually, my yield was 120 quintals, but the disease that blighted my farm has reduced my harvest to 50 quintals. If the price of areca drop further, merely maintaining my farm would become a burden,” Gowda said.
Fellow areca cultivator, KV Arun said that the authorities’ claim of the imported crop not affecting the domestic market ignored various other variables involved in the equation. “Traders will utilise the opportunity to reduce price of the crop. If the authorities are concerned about us, they must take steps to ensure that traders do not misuse the situation. What the farmers really want is a fair price for the produce,” Arun said.
The quantity of areca being harvested has increased by 55% between 2015 and 2020, according to information sourced from the government, with Karnataka emerging as the largest producer of the commercial crop. Where 7.1 lakh tonnes of areca was produced in 2015-16 in the country, the number rose to 11 lakh tonnes in 2019-20. But the authorities claimed that India continued to import areca nuts every year.
Vice-president of Malnad Areca Marketing Cooperative Society, HV Mahesh said that, although importing areca from Bhutan may not directly impact domestic farmers, the society would nevertheless approach the Union government, seeking that the order be withdrawn so as to protect the welfare of farmers. “I have already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other officials expressing the society’s concerns over the problem,” Mahesh said.
Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Shobha Karandlaje, also the MP for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, was not available for a comment on the issue.