The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) has claimed its efforts to export arecanut to China will soon bear fruit with Chinese business men visiting arecanut-growing regions in Karnataka, reports Hindu.
Campco President, K.Padmanabha told journalists the cooperative had held two rounds of discussion with the Chinese company Kou Wei Wang. Readers would recall that Padmanabha is also a BJP leader and is in the Education Fund Committee of NCUI.
The Chinese experts are touring arecanut-growing regions in Shivamogga and Tumakuru districts of Karnataka. Apart from selecting tender arecanuts, the Chinese experts will train the people to process the tender arecanut to meet their requirements.
Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of Campco, said the Chinese company wants the growers to harvest tender arecanut and boil it along with the peel. The peel will be used for preparing mouth-fresheners, he said.
He said the cooperative will export around 10 tonnes of processed tender arecanut to China on a trial basis by the end of this year. If this is successful, the cooperative will plan a large-scale export to China, he said.