In a significant development, Karnataka, the largest grower of arecanut in the country is all set to export tender arecanut to China to fulfil the country’s demand to produce mouth freshener prepared out of the peel of the nut.
According to the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (CAMPCO) ltd, based in Puttur near coastal town of Mangaluru in Karnataka, a chinese mouth freshener making company is in the process of finalising a deal with CAMPCO in this regard.
CAMPCO president Konkodi Padmanabha said two rounds of talks have already been held with the Kou Wei Wang (meaning ‘king of taste’) company in China for the deal. This company manufactures mouth fresheners which are in great demand in the Chinese domestic market.
He told reporters that a team from China is on a visit to arecanut farms in Shivamogga and Tumkur. They would also interact with farmers to identify the best quality arecanut available in the region.
According to CAMPCO officials, the company had placed a demand for 32,000 quintals of arecanut in the first phase and already started processing the request for exports.
China now has only 1,22,000 tonnes of arecanut stock at present which is much below the quantity they required. The CAMPCO would start its processing unit at Puttur and would be able to send the first container to China at the earliest. Padmanabha said the tender arecanut from the red arecanut-producing regions in the State will be used for exports. (In the case of red arecanut, growers harvest the tender arecanut, remove the peel, and boil the nut to prepare red arecanut). Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of CAMPCO, said that the Chinese company wants the growers to harvest tender arecanut and boil it along with the peel. Only the peel will be used for preparing mouth-fresheners, he said.
Arecanut is sold in the Indian domestic market and this would open up a new avenue for the growers. According to Shivananda, an arecanut grower from Theerthahalli, this would open up a new road to growers who are facing lot of fluctuations and glut in the domestic market.
China produces around 1.2 lakh tonnes of arecanuts every year but the quantity is not enough to meet its domestic requirement. With an average annual production of more than 3 lakh tonnes, India is the largest producer of arecanuts, followed by Bangladesh, China and Indonesia.
Arecanut is an important commercial crop in India and finds a place in all religious, social and cultural functions in India. Cultivation of arecanut is mostly confined to States of Karnataka, Kerala and Assam but the consumption is spread all over the country. India is considered as the largest arecanut producing country in the world.