Mangalore: A preliminary meeting involving scientists, researchers, cooperative sector leaders and nut farmers was held as a prelude to the webinar on 'Arecanut Challenge: Transforming Policy into Impact in Southeast Asia' by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 30th on the use of nuts and its policy implications.
The meeting was held at the Campo Chocolate office in Puttur and was presided over by CAMPCO President S.R. Satishchandra. The current classification of groundnut, its socio-economic, cultural and agricultural significance was discussed. Objections were raised regarding the consideration of groundnuts as group-1 carcinogens and the opinion that groundnuts alone are not carcinogenic.
Until the completion of a comprehensive and conclusive scientific study by 11 national organizations including CPCRI with the help of the central government, it was decided to appeal to the World Health Organization to reclassify groundnuts from group-1 classification to group-2. It was urged that the doubt should be removed as to whether special research has been done on a nut.
CPCRI Director Balachandra Hebbar, Scientist Ramesh, TSS Institute Keshav Korse, Ramaiah University Raja and Kadambi, Mammoth MD Srikanth, CAMPCO Director Vishwanath E. Hegade expressed his opinion through online. CAMPCO Administrative Director Satyanarayana, Agriculture Marketing Specialist Vishveswar Bhat Varmudi, Avinash Rao of Agrileaf, ARDF Executive Officer Keshav Bhat, Dentist Dr. Prakash, Vivekananda Ayurveda Institute Dr. Gururaj, CAMPCO Director Muralikrishna Challangaru, All India Areca Nut Growers Association President. Mahesh Puchappadi expressed his opinion.
Keywords: Arecanut, CAMPCO, Arecanut Challenge: Transforming Policy into Impact in Southeast Asia, World Health Organization, Puttur News