Status of arecanut production systems in India

Arecanut (Areca catechu L.), which belongs to family Palmae, is a commercially and socially important non-food crop in south-east Asia. Sustainability issues are increasingly noticed in recent times in perennial crops as well due to climatic change, stagnant productivity trend and ecological imbalance. The sustainability issues are likely to increase in arecanut both in traditional and non-traditional areas due to impending problems like soil-plant nutrient imbalances, proliferation of pests and diseases, farmer's preference for monocropping, cultivation in contiguous areas and poor adaptability. Cropping/farming systems approach is the prime requirement for development of sustainable arecanut production systems. There are reports of imbalanced and excess soil fertility status in arecanut growing regions resulting from wide spread adoption of organic farming practices, depletion of soil K, poor soil aeration and blanket recommendations. Need based input use is most important for sustaining the production and reducing the cost of production. Besides, integrated approaches are required for soil and plant health management in arecanut production system. The economic sustainability of arecanut can be ensured in future by adopting suitable adaptation strategies like cropping systems, drip-fertigation and organic matter recycling and by taking up various value addition options as microenterprises.