MANGALORE: Arecanut growers of the district need not worry as the present prices will continue to prevail until 2016, an expert on agriculture markets, Vigneshwar Varmudi, predicted recently.
He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Marketing for Agricultural Produce and the Challenges’ organised by Vijaya Rural Development Foundation (VRDF) and Vijaya Bank Mangalore.
The price of white arecanut touching around `20,000 per quintal will not decline even after 2016, Varmudi said. With the petition on banning arecanut coming up for hearing before the Supreme Court next week, an expert committee already has convinced the Centre on the medicinal benefits of arecanut. Varmudi said: “Direct competition between CAMPCO and the traders had ensured good prices for arecanut this year.