General Characteristics

• Arecanut (Areca catechu L). is an important commercial crop in India. Arecanut is the seed of the arecanut palm.
• There are two varieties of arecanut, called white Supari and Red Supari. White variety supari is prepared by harvesting fully ripe arecanut and by sun drying for 40 to 50 days. Red variety supari is prepared by harvesting the tender (green) arecanut, boiling it and peeling off the husk.
• Mainly used in gutkha industry and in religious, social and cultural functions. It is also used in Ayurvedic and veterinary medicines.
• It is estimated that nearly ten million people depend on arecanut industry for their livelihood in India.
• The quality, variety and types of arecanut vary from one place to other.

Global Scenario

• Besides India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand are the other important arecanut producers.
• The current production of arecanut in the world is about 0.64 million tonnes from an area of 0.476 million hectares. India ranks first in both area (58%) and production (53%) of arecanut.
• The current world productivity of arecanut is 1.287 tonnes/ha. China ranks first in arecanut productivity with 3.752 tonnes/ha. India ranks fourth in terms of productivity (1.189 tonnes/ha).

Indian Scenario

• Total area under arecanut cultivation is around 3.2 lakh hectares and the total production is around 3.4 lakh tons.
• Arecanut is mainly grown in Kerala, Karnataka and Assam. Kerala and Karnataka account for about 70% of country’s production. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, A.P, West Bengal and Orissa are the other important producing states.
• Out of the total production the percentage of white variety is around 60% and that of red variety is 40%.
• Arecanut consumption in the country is around 3.3 lakh tons. Raw arecanut is used as supari while processed nuts are used in gutkha industry.
• Arecanut has limited export potential. However a small quantity of it is exported in its processed form or other products like panmasala, scented supari and gutka.

Major Indian Markets
Campco is the main nodal agency for procuring arecanut. Mumbai, Ahmedadad, Indore, Jaipur, Delhi, Nagpur, Patna, Calcutta, Cuttack, Bangalore, Rajkot, and Chennai are the important marketing centres of arecanut in India.