Mangaluru: To benefit arecanut farmers, the inter-state cooperative organisation Campco is moving towards producing organic fertiliser. Currently, Campco purchases raw materials for the fertilisers needed by farmers from outside and provides them under the Campco brand. Going forward, Campco plans to produce organic fertilisers by itself and has decided to purchase 18 acres in Hiriyur, Chitradurga, for this purpose.A Kishore Kumar Kodgi, president of Campco, announced this during the 51st annual general meeting of the cooperative on Saturday. He said that currently, Campco supplies ‘Campco Aayush’, an organic manure produced on an outsourced basis, to farmers. Further, Campco also sells ‘poushtika’, a micronutrient mixture fertiliser, and ‘dolomite’, a natural soil amendment, he said, adding that Campco has initiated steps to buy land in Hiriyur to produce organic fertiliser.Campco will also develop its own app, which will be available to farmer member customers by March next year. It will provide daily updates on product prices and stock market details. Members may use the app to sell the areca nut pledged whenever they want, especially when the price goes up. The app will provide details of all transactions of the members and also updates on the daily rates of agricultural commodities, he said.Member customers can pledge up to two quintals of areca nut at Campco. Previously, this limit was 10 quintals. To benefit ordinary arecanut growers, the limit has now been set at two quintals. Such customers will be provided with a maximum of 60% of the amount as an advance loan, but availing a 30% advance loan is mandatory. It is planned to extend the nitrogen storage system for areca nut storage and pledge facilities to all branches, said Kodgi.To assist farmers, Campco has opened a state-of-the-art soil testing centre in Puttur, and such facilities will be extended to all branches. Campco recorded a profit of Rs 51.8 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25. An 8% dividend has been declared for members. The organisation sold 65,675 metric tons of arecanut valued at Rs 2,825 crore, he added.
