Saralnama
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high-level meeting on arecanut development, announcing his personal visit to Karnataka with scientists to assess the situation and formulate a development roadmap. He highlighted arecanut's cultural and medicinal importance and addressed concerns from a WHO report by commissioning ICAR scientists to study the crop, with a report due soon. The meeting discussed viral diseases affecting arecanut, illegal imports, moisture issues, and price disparities, with government consideration of compensation for farmers' losses. Karnataka leads India’s arecanut production, which accounts for 63% of global output, with an estimated market value of ₹58,664 crore and about six million people dependent on the crop. Union Ministers HD Kumaraswamy and Pralhad Joshi, MPs from arecanut regions, and senior officials participated. Chouhan assured timely resolution of issues to protect farmers and the industry. (Updated 21 Aug 2025, 22:24 IST; source: link)