Hans News Service Mangaluru

TheCentral Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (CAMPCO), one of India’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives, will celebrate its 53rd Foundation Day on on Satruday, marking more than five decades of supporting growers in Karnataka and Kerala while unveiling a mobile application for its members, according to a press release from the president of the CAMPCO SR Sathishchandra on Friday

Established on July 11, 1973, CAMPCO was founded to protect arecanut farmers from market instability and exploitation by traders and middlemen. The cooperative was the brainchild of noted cooperative leader Varanashi Subraya Bhat, whose birth centenary is being observed this year with a series of commemorative programmes.

The organisation said it had already launched year-long centenary celebrations in June to honour its founder’s contribution to the cooperative movement and farmer welfare.

CAMPCO’s evolution mirrors the changing fortunes of plantation farmers in the region. Beginning as a marketing cooperative for arecanut growers, it later expanded into cocoa procurement after farmers cultivating cocoa as an intercrop struggled to market their produce.

This led to the establishment of the CAMPCO Chocolate Factory at Puttur in 1986, inaugurated by the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh.

Today, the cooperative procures arecanut, cocoa, rubber, black pepper and coconuts through an extensive network spread across Karnataka and Kerala. It also operates processing units and marketing depots across the country and has diversified into branded chocolates, edible coconut oil, organic fertilisers and other value-added products. According to the cooperative, nearly 1.5 lakh members are associated with CAMPCO, while its operations provide direct and indirect employment to thousands of people. As part of the Foundation Day celebrations, CAMPCO launched a dedicated mobile application that will allow members to access transaction details, cooperative services and other information digitally.

The cooperative said it remains committed to strengthening value addition, transparent governance and sustainable incomes for plantation farmers while carrying forward thevision of its founder.