Centre allocates ₹37 crore to Karnataka for managing arecanut leaf spot disease in 2024-25, says Union Minister
The fund was allocated by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, told the Rajya Sabha on August 1.
The Ministry of Agriculture intervened whenever there was a severe incidence of diseases and suggested remedial measures and provided financial assistance on the request of the State government, the Minister said.
Mr. Prasada said that the arecanut crop was also covered under the Restructured Weather Crop Based Insurance Scheme (RWCBIS) scheme in Karnataka. Directorate of Arecanut & Spices Development (DASD) has been promoting the technology of multi-species cropping in the existing arecanut gardens by conducting training programmes. The Directorate demonstrated the effect of the new fungicide, mandipropamid, in the management of fruit rot in arecanut in selected areas of Kerala and Karnataka, and also conducted a demonstration to popularise the use of Entomopathogenic Nematode (EPN) in the management of root grubs in arecanut.
Leader in production
'As per estimates of 2023-24, Karnataka is the largest producer of arecanut in the country with a production of 10.32 lakh tonnes of arecanut from an area of 6.77 lakh hectares, which constitutes 73% of total arecanut production and 71% of total area under arecanut in the country,' the Minister said.
He replied to an unstarred question by member D. Veerendra Heggade.
No arecanut board
In the reply, the Union government reiterated that there was no proposal before it to constitute an arecanut board. Earlier, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Ramnath Thakur, told the Lok Sabha on March 18, 2025, that no such proposal was under its consideration.
Mr. Heggade wanted to know about the constraints faced by the Ministry in constituting an Arecanut Board in the lines of Coffee Board, Rubber Board, Tea Board, etc.
Hinting that there was no need for an Arecanut Board, Mr. Prasada said: 'Directorate of Arecanut & Spices Development (DASD), Calicut, is entrusted with the overall development of arecanut. The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd. (CAMPCO), a multi-State cooperative based in Mangaluru, is actively involved in the procurement and marketing of arecanut. Further, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a statutory body under the Department of Commerce, looks after the export promotion of arecanut, as it is a scheduled product of APEDA.'
Earlier, Mr. Thakur too had told the Lok Sabha that that the existing institutional mechanism provided sufficient support for research and development of arecanut.
Mr. Prasada told the Rajya Sabha that in terms of research, the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (ICAR-CPCRI), Kasaragod, was the primary institution conducting research on arecanut. An exclusive research centre dedicated to arecanut was also functioning at Vitla, Dakshina Kannada. Additionally, two State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) in major arecanut-growing states were actively involved in research and extension activities related to the crop.
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