The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (CAMPCO) Ltd., Mangaluru, has elected a new leadership team for the 2025–2030 term, choosing two seasoned cooperative leaders to steer the organisation into its next phase of growth. S. R. Satishchandra has been unanimously elected President, while Padmaraj Pattaje has been elected Vice President.
The results, however, will be officially confirmed only after the Cooperative Election Authority under the Ministry of Cooperation, Government of India, grants its approval.
Satishchandra, a respected figure in the cooperative movement, hails from Punacha in Bantwal Taluk and brings over 25 years of experience to the role. He previously led CAMPCO between 2015 and 2020 and continued as a Director in the most recent term. Known for his deep engagement with farmer issues and cooperative governance, he returns to the presidency at a critical juncture for the organisation.
Supporting him as Vice President is Padmaraj Pattaje, an agriculturist from Pattaje–Badiadka in Kasaragod. Pattaje has been closely associated with CAMPCO’s activities for many years, serving as Director for two terms. He also holds leadership roles in several cooperative institutions, reflecting his longstanding commitment to strengthening the cooperative ecosystem.
The election marks a significant moment in CAMPCO’s journey, coming immediately after the conclusion of the tenure of outgoing President A. Kishore Kumar Kodgi. At his farewell press conference, Kodgi presented a detailed account of CAMPCO’s work from 2020 to 2025, a period he characterised as one of intense advocacy, reform and resilience. He emphasised that despite multiple challenges, the cooperative remained firmly aligned with its founding vision of fairness, scientific rigour and unwavering commitment to growers in Karnataka and Kerala.
One of the defining issues of Kodgi’s term was the international classification of arecanut as carcinogenic. CAMPCO led a sustained scientific challenge to this categorisation, gathering research, consulting experts and submitting a detailed representation to former WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan.
This effort prompted WHO and IARC to seek further scientific evidence, opening the possibility of a re-evaluation. Preliminary studies from NITTE University suggested whole arecanut extract was non-toxic to normal cells and test organisms, strengthening CAMPCO’s appeal.
The organisation’s advocacy culminated in the Ministry of Agriculture approving a national, multi-institutional research project involving leading institutions such as AIIMS, NIMHANS, IISc and ICAR–CPCRI, one of the most comprehensive scientific inquiries into arecanut to date.
During these five years, CAMPCO also pushed for critical regulatory reforms, including revising moisture norms under FSSAI, correcting the inadvertent classification of arecanut as forest produce and tightening import rules, which led to an increase in the Minimum Import Price.
It stabilised market prices, relaunched consumer products, expanded exports, strengthened pepper operations and diversified into new agri inputs. The cooperative also modernised its chocolate factory, rolled out the SAKSHAM ERP platform and expanded welfare measures for farmers and staff. Its turnover rose from Rs 2,134 crore to Rs 3,631 crore.
The new leadership under Satishchandra and Pattaje now inherits this momentum as CAMPCO prepares for its next chapter, reaffirming its mission to serve farmers with integrity and innovation.
