Veerendra Heggade asks Prime Minister to curb illegal entry of arecanut
Arecanut is the main source of income for about 16 million farmers
Mangaluru, June 02, 2022: Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade, who is also the president of Arecanut Research and Development Foundation has urged the Prime Minister to curb the illegal entry of arecanut into the country.
With an annual production of 15.63 lakh tonnes, Arecanut is the main source of income for about 16 million farmers in India. Even when the Country is self-sufficient in Arecanut production, about 24,000 tonnes is being imported legally every year.
While smuggling of Arecanut continues to exist, the quantity of Arecanut traded outside the tax network is not available.
The Directorate of Arecanut & Spices Development under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare reported that around 15% of Arecanut is traded by Cooperatives such as CAMPCO Mangalore, TSS Sirsi, MAMCOS Shimoga, and TUMOCS Chennagiri, etc. and 85% of the Arecanut is traded by Private Traders.
In the above context, D. Veerendra Heggade has stated that the smugglers not only destabilize the price of Arecanut grown locally affecting the livelihood and financial position of lakhs of Areca Farmers but also have a very bad impact on the revenues generated in the form of GST on Arecanut.
Therefore, he has stressed the need to put a curb on this.
He has urged the Hon’ble Prime Minister to take strict action on the illegal import of Arecanut and its transport.
He has stated that to curb under-invoicing of Arecanut, a competent Nodal agency in the Cooperative Sector familiar with both White and Red Varieties of Arecanut such as the CAMPCO Ltd, or ARDF may be identified to evaluate and give reports on such goods.
