Steps to double cashew-nut production

13 January 2012

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 13 JAN: In an attempt to double production of cashew-nuts, the state government under the behest of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has recommended new technologies to farmers.
ICAR in association with its research wing, the Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR), has recommended several new high-yielding varieties as well as methods of increasing productivity to make India self-sufficient in raw cashew-nut during the 12th Five Year Plan.
Following a crisis in the industrial sector in Vietnam and Brazil, the main competitors of India in the global cashew-nut market, the state government had taken steps to expand its cashew-nut production area two years ago.
But the project could not take off for an indefinite period after cashew-nut traders alleged that many fake traders were enlisted in the shareholders’ list.
According to state industrial department officials, the move would enable the state to export more cashew-nut to foreign countries from the next financial year. Driven by the immediate need, the state's food processing industry and horticulture department had formed a cashew-nut cluster zone that includes Midnapore East, Midnapore West, Bankura and Purulia districts.
“To achieve higher productivity, it is necessary to adopt some new high-yielding varieties, and improve the cultivation methods. At present, the national average yield is 700 kg per hectare and the target is to increase it to 1,200 kg during the 12th Plan period,” said a state horticulture department official.
At present, the varieties grown by a large number of farmers are prone to pest attacks. Tea mosquito bugs are causing a loss of about 35-40 per cent yield and stem root borer is causing death of five per cent of plants at different growing regions. In order to overcome these pest attacks, DCR has developed some new varieties, which are also high-yielding, the officer said.
According to the state horticulture department, DCR has also suggested two new approaches. As against the present practice of planting 200 grafts per hectare, it has recommended 1,000 grafts per hectare so as to increase the output five-fold.
In West Bengal, around 450 cashew-nut units (small and medium) are running in the Majna area of Contai alone and more than 50,000 people are engaged in the trade. Similarly, around 60,000 people are engaged in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.
“But with increasing demand in the global market, there is huge scope for commercialisation of the crop here. So, we are planning to increase our cashew-nut area by 200 hectares from 1.32 lakh hectares this year under various projects under the National Horticulture Mission,” said an official of the department of food processing industry and horticulture.
“Apart from this, we will supply high-yielding variety of cashew nut seeds to the farmers and we have brought saplings from Maharashtra. This high-yielding variety will produce cashew weighing between eight gram and 10 gram, which has great demand in foreign countries,” said the official.