Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur (ANK)

Puttur, Jan 21: Minister for commerce and industry Suresh Prabhu on Sunday January 21 inaugurated Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Limited (Campco) chocolate factory's new amenity building here.

Addressing the gathering, Suresh Prabhu said, "Farmers are the strength of this country and farming is an important part of the economy, but unfortunately the condition of our farmers is very critical and their problems are increasing day by day. This is a place (Campco factory) where farmers who grow cocoa or areca have united and formed this factory, and use their products which are grown and processed in the form of chocolates, and profit from it.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working on a project where farmers' income gets doubled in the next five years, and to make this project a reality we need more factories like Campco to come up in the country. Farmers put in a lot of hard work into growing their products but they face several hurdles in taking them to the market.

"We need to make arrangement to have a processing unit in order to empower the farmers to process the produce grown in their farms. Farmers' produce should be sold immediately but farmers do not have facilities to process and sell as per their convenience. Campco has given all the amenities for the farmers to process what they grow in their farms and get benefited.

"Campco is a cooperative organization that plays a prominent role in the growth of farmers in rural areas. I wish this factory inspires others to set up many such factories in every corner of our country. Campco has proved that such cooperative organizations can even compete with multinational companies," said Suresh Prabhu.

National president of Sahakara, Bharathi Jyothindra Bhai Mehta said, "This is a wonderful asset. In a cooperative sector the farmer is the owner of the asset who enables it to grow to the international level. This factory is a unique business entity where farmers are given the right value for their products. I urge Suresh Prabhu to form an agriculture chamber of commerce to look into routine problems. We also need to formulate a strong policy for farmers."

Campco director S R Sathishchandra said, "It is a great occasion for us to have a new amenity building. Campco had welcomed the central government's move to hike the minimum import price of arecanut and I thank the union ministry for this. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream is to double the income of farmers and it is our dream too, and we are contributing towards it."

National president of Sahakara Bharathi Jyothindra Bhai Mehta unveiled the statue of Campco founder-president the late Varanasi Subraya Bhat.

Puttur MLA Shakuntala Shetty released Campco's premium chocolate box.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel laid the foundation stone for the godown for arecanut, pepper, rubber master, and the processing unit at Kavu site.

Campco vice-president Shankarnarayan Bhat welcomed the gathering, while managing director Suresh Bhandary proposed the vote of thanks.

Zilla panchayat president Meenakshi Shanthigodu, taluk panchayat president Bhavani Chidananda, president of town municipality Jayanthi Balnadu and others were present.