Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Hon'ble Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India and Dr. K. Balachandra Hebbar, Director of ICAR-CPCRI, had an interaction on January 18, 2025, while attending the Mega Farmers Meet in Sagara, Karnataka. The Director discussed with the minister about the difficulties faced by the arecanut farmers. The event was attended by over 20,000 arecanut growers. According to the recommendations of the National Scientific Committee (NSC) on Arecanut, the minister announced 67 crore rupees for the first year's grant to manage leaf spot disease (LSD) and yellow leaf disease (YLD) of arecanut. He also called for the arecanut and health project to start quickly.