Mangalore headquartered arecanut co-operative President S.R.Satishchandra has knocked the doors of two chief ministers- Kerala and Karnataka and union minister Radha Mohan Singh seeking soft and special package for the arecanut farmers in the wake of massive floods affecting the two states.
“Due to incessant rains, the farmers of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada have suffered great loss. The Arecanut plantations have been destroyed 100% at few places and 50% at some other places. Not only that the arecanut plantations have been affected by Yellow Leaf Disease too resulting into great loss for the farmers of these regions”, a memorandum submitted by the Campco President reads.
Amongst the lakhs of affected people in these disasters are our farmers who have lost their Arecanut, Rubber, Cocoa, Pepper and Coconut plantations. Trees have been uprooted and plantations washed away, Chandra adds.
While lauding the union govt for its pro-farmer policies the Memorandum demands that it is morally incumbent on the governments to retrieve the situation and save the affected farmers from the distress. “ We kindly request the Hon’ble Chief Minister Govt. of Kerala to kindly extend a Special Package to the affected farmers and also extend soft loan to them”, Chandra says.
On behalf of the entire Arecanut Fraternity we earnestly hope that the matter will be considered in all seriousness so as to help the Farmers.
The memorandum also reminds the leaders about CAMPCO and says that the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Ltd., is a Co-operative Organisation registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act and functioning since 1973 as a premier Agri-produce marketing organisation. The Cooperative has more than 1,00,000 Agriculturist Members and assists them in marketing their produce like Arecanut (Betelnut/Supary), Rubber, Cocoa, Pepper etc.
It bears recall that the relentless rains killed reportedly killed 400 persons dead in Kerala. Similarly, in the mountainous Coorg/ Kodagu district in Karnataka State thousands of people had been marooned because of torrential rains. Exacerbated by landslides in hilly terrain, flooding has led to the destruction of homes, bridges, road networks, and industries.