Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
century mainly for the purpose of soil and water conservation. Cashew,
after its introduction to India five centuries back has naturalized well to
the Indian climatic conditions and is presently grown in an area of about
9.91 lakh hectares with a production of 6.92 lakh tons of raw nuts per an-
num. The current productivity of cashew in the country is of 749 kg/ha.
Low productivity of cashew in India is a matter of concern. The details of
area, production and productivity of cashew is given in Table 6.1 (DCCD,
2012). Nigeria, India, Ivory Coast, Vietnam and Indonesia are leading ca-
shew producing countries in the world (2010). In India, it is grown mainly
in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala along the west coast and Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal along the east coast. It is
also grown to a limited extent in nontraditional areas such as Bastar region
of Chattisgarh and Kolar (Plains) region of Karnataka, Gujarat, Jharkhand
and in North Eastern Hilly region. India exports 0.926 lakh tons of ca-
shew kernels per annum to over 65 countries and is a prominent trader
for over a century. The major countries that import Indian cashew are
United States of America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United Arab
Emirates, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Russia, Germany, Canada
and Greece. Owing to its high nutritional value and increasing afford-
ability by the consumers, demand for cashew continues to increase
globally as well as domestically.
TABLE 6.1
Area, Production and Productivity of Cashew in India During 2011-2012
State
Area (ha)
Production (tons)
Productivity (kg/ha)
Kerala
83,000
73,000
948
Karnataka
1,21,000
60,000
517
Goa
58,000
25,000
455
Maharashtra
1,83,000
2,23,000
1282
Tamil Nadu
1,36,000
68,000
519
Andhra Pradesh
1,84,000
1,10,000
601
Odisha
1,58,000
97,000
683
West Bengal
20,000
5,000
500
Others
48,000
31,000
861
Total
9,91,000
6,92,000
749
