Neera, wine, cashew policies on the anvil

Bangalore, Mar 1 (UNI) The Karnataka Government will introduce policies on Neera, Wine and Cashew shortly to promote the interests of farmers, Horticulture Minister Shashikant Naik said today.

Talking to reporters here, he said Neera policy had been prepared in consultation with the Law department and all the three policies would be taken up in the next Cabinet meeting.

Mr Naik said the juice extracted from grapes, cashew fruit and coconut tree would be sold as beverages seasonally and it would not come under the ambit of excise duty.

He said the Government was coming out with these new policies as the prices of these crops were crashing, affecting the ryots badly.

The farmers would be allowed to set up small units to manufacture the juices on the lines of Maharashtra and Goa, he added.

Coconut and cashew were grown in almost all coastal districts, while grape was raised in North Narnataka and the farmers in these areas depended on these crops for their livelihood.

The Minister said the World Kannada Conference was likely to be held in May. The Government had released Rs ten crore today for the preparations.

UNI