Former Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Saturday said a positive response from the Union Finance Ministry was expected to a request from farmers in Karnataka to reduce the goods and services tax (GST) on copper sulphate, a fungicide used mainly in arecanut farms, from 18% to 5%.
Speaking at the foundation day of Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd. (CAMPCO) and the birth centenary celebrations of its founding president, held at the CAMPCO headquarters here, he said the demand was recently made to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The former Karnataka Chief Minister said CAMPCO and similar organisations should ensure that a detailed study report by accredited research institutes on the non-carcinogenic nature of arecanut was submitted to the Centre.
He demanded the setting up of laboratories to test the quality of arecanut at all ports in the country to curb the import of poor-quality arecanut. Despite various measures to curb such imports, inferior-quality produce continued to arrive, he regretted.
Mr. Gowda said arecanut growers had been facing many challenges for a long time. When the price of arecanut was subject to fluctuations, he established CAMPCO on July 11, 1973, which helped stabilise prices, he recalled.
Stating that the arecanut crop was being affected by a host of problems, including leaf spot disease, rot disease and yellow leaf disease, he said CAMPCO should place greater emphasis on research-based measures.
CAMPCO president said that as the world was opening to quality and chemical-free Indian products, the cooperative would promote its products in the global market. Besides marketing arecanut, CAMPCO would also compete in chocolate production globally. It was also planning to use artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technology soon to respond to the problems and queries of arecanut farmers, he added.
