In a proactive move, CAMPCO President A. Kishore Kumar Kodgi has reached out to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, urging her to take decisive action to aid farmers and ensure fair trading practices within the agricultural sector.
This appeal follows her recent reappointment as Finance Minister, a position from which she can significantly influence agricultural policies.
President Kodgi’s letter detailed several key demands aimed at reducing financial burdens on farmers and safeguarding their economic interests. Foremost among these requests is the reduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on arecanut from 5% to 2%, and on copper sulphate—a pesticide essential in farming—from 18% to 5%.
Additionally, Kodgi has advocated for a decrease in Customs Duty on carbon fibre poles to make advanced agricultural tools more accessible and affordable for farmers.
Another critical area of concern highlighted in Kodgi’s letter is the illegal importation of commodities such as arecanut and pepper, which not only undermines local markets but also poses significant health risks.
The CAMPCO president has called for stringent measures to combat these imports, including the incineration of illegal goods to prevent them from re-entering the market and compromising public safety.
The letter also proposes the establishment of a minimum auction price for seized arecanut to stabilize market prices, simplification of the GST framework to ease the tax burden on farmers, and increased funding for research into the medicinal properties of arecanut and the fight against Yellow Leaf Disease.
President Kodgi expressed his trust in Minister Sitharaman’s continued support for the farming community, emphasizing the urgent need for these reforms to protect the livelihoods of farmers, ensure the integrity of the markets, and promote sustainable agricultural practices.
In the letter, CAMPCO assures the organization’s commitment to advocating for policies that benefit the agricultural sector and improve the economic conditions of farmers across the nation.