<p>BJP Lok Sabha member from Shivamogga B Y Raghavendra on Thursday urged the Centre to impose hefty import duty on foreign arecanuts to arrest falling prices of the produce in the domestic market.</p>.<p>Raghavendra raised the issue during the Zero Hour, highlighting the crisis faced by areca growers in Karnataka.</p>.<p>Raghavendra said that in the first week of September this year, the price of arecanut was Rs 58,000 per quintal.</p>.<p>But it dropped to Rs 39,000 per quintal in the second week of December due to arrival of low-quality arecanuts from neighbouring countries.</p>.<p>He also said that arecanut crop had suffered heavily in the state due to yellow leaf disease.</p>.<p>This year, the arecanut yield has declined by 50 per cent due to the disease.</p>.<p>The MP urged the Central government to introduce scientifically developed pesticides to control the yellow leaf disease and sought a ban on the arrival of low-quality arecanuts from foreign countries.</p>.<p>Arecanut is grown in 16 districts of the state and around 10 lakh families are dependent on the crop for their livelihood.</p>.<p>Karnataka accounts for 69 per cent of the total arecanut production in the country, which is around 16.5 lakh metric tonnes.</p>.<p>The total value of the produce is around Rs 8,250 crore in a year and its by-products contribute Rs 24,750 crore to the exchequer in the form of GST and cess, Raghavendra said.</p>
<p>BJP Lok Sabha member from Shivamogga B Y Raghavendra on Thursday urged the Centre to impose hefty import duty on foreign arecanuts to arrest falling prices of the produce in the domestic market.</p>.<p>Raghavendra raised the issue during the Zero Hour, highlighting the crisis faced by areca growers in Karnataka.</p>.<p>Raghavendra said that in the first week of September this year, the price of arecanut was Rs 58,000 per quintal.</p>.<p>But it dropped to Rs 39,000 per quintal in the second week of December due to arrival of low-quality arecanuts from neighbouring countries.</p>.<p>He also said that arecanut crop had suffered heavily in the state due to yellow leaf disease.</p>.<p>This year, the arecanut yield has declined by 50 per cent due to the disease.</p>.<p>The MP urged the Central government to introduce scientifically developed pesticides to control the yellow leaf disease and sought a ban on the arrival of low-quality arecanuts from foreign countries.</p>.<p>Arecanut is grown in 16 districts of the state and around 10 lakh families are dependent on the crop for their livelihood.</p>.<p>Karnataka accounts for 69 per cent of the total arecanut production in the country, which is around 16.5 lakh metric tonnes.</p>.<p>The total value of the produce is around Rs 8,250 crore in a year and its by-products contribute Rs 24,750 crore to the exchequer in the form of GST and cess, Raghavendra said.</p>
