Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005 |
| Kerala | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 7. The Agriculture Minister, K.R. Gouri, has said that pepper from Sri Lanka and various South-East Asian nations was being dumped in Kerala under the cover of the Indo-Sri Lanka trade accord. Responding to a calling-attention motion by Kodiyeri Balakrishnan (CPI-M) in the Assembly today, the Minister said though the trade pact envisaged only duty-free import of pepper from Sri Lanka, pepper from other South-East Asian nations was also reaching the State in huge quantities. She attributed the slump in pepper price in Kerala to the dumping. The large-scale arrival of arecanut from Karnataka was also a matter of concern for the State, she said. The Minister said the State had approached the Centre with the plea that only pepper from Sri Lanka should be permitted into the country and that the pepper import should be through specified ports alone. She also informed the House that the Centre had sanctioned Rs.30 crores for replanting pepper and cashew and released Rs.10 crores as advance payment. The Centre had more or less also cleared a Rs.297-crore project for replanting root wilt-affected coconut palms. Ms. Gouri admitted that the Government has not been able to give assistance to all the farmers who had committed suicide due to debt. According to the Government's estimates, 173 farmers had committed suicide between June 1, 2003, and July 31, 2004. However, only 40 of these suicides were on account of debt. The Government has so far given assistance to 28 families. Steps would be taken to expedite assistance to the remaining eligible families, she said. In response to another calling-attention motion by N.D. Appachan (Congress), she said the Government would ask the tahsildars to review the estimated productivity per hectare of pepper so as to ensure that pepper growers did not find themselves in a disadvantageous position.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2005, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
