How India can become Aatmanirbhar in cashew sector

At a time when the Key Minister needs India to turn out to be Aatmanirbhar in the agriculture sector, cashew is continue to dependent on abroad markets to fulfill its uncooked materials requirements.

Although India topped in global cashew intake at 32 for each cent in 2019, uncooked cashew nut output stood at twenty for each cent of the global output. India’s share in global cashew processing stood at 39 for each cent. Having said that, Vietnam led the cashew processing sector at 52 for each cent in 2019.

Cultivation problems

Talking to BusinessLine, K Prakash Rao, husband or wife at the Mangaluru-based Kalbavi Cashews, claimed India requirements to just take its crop from the current 7 lakh tonnes for each annum to at the very least twelve lakh tonnes for each annum in the up coming five yrs to turn out to be Aatmanirbhar in crop output.

The Directorate of Cashewnut and Cocoa Growth need to attract a significant roadmap for this and determine States that have the land for increasing the space beneath cashew cultivation, he extra.

Stressing the need to have to concentration on transforming the planting materials, he claimed all senile plantations need to be changed with the newest hybrid range that can produce more than 15 kg for each tree, and there is also a need to have to concentration on significant density plantations.

Bola Rahul Kamath, proprietor of the Karkala-based Bola Surendra Kamath & Sons, explained to BusinessLine that Indian farmers’ charge of output and attitudes are fully diverse when it will come to competing with Africa. Farmers need to have to give focussed focus to the crop, he claimed.

Stating that there is scope to enhance the space beneath cashew cultivation in India, Kamath claimed Vietnam is a tiny country and has a minimal place to enhance the crop. On the other hand, India has a good probable in cashew cultivation as it has a massive cultivable space. There is a need to have to just take the crop to the hinterland for this reason, he claimed.

K Deviprasad, Common Secretary of the Karnataka-based All India Cashew Growers’ Affiliation, explained to BusinessLine that there is a need to have to enhance the foundation price tag of uncooked cashew nuts to at the very least ₹120 a kg, as a price tag beneath that is not remunerative to a grower. Now cashew is 1 of the crops in the multi-crop farming principle. The crop will turn out to be a key crop and the space beneath cashew cultivation will mechanically go up, the moment the foundation price tag is preset to a least of ₹120 a kg for uncooked cashewnuts, he claimed.

Prakash Rao, who is also the Chairman of the Mangaluru chapter of CII, claimed that India requirements to approach at the very least 2 million tonnes of cashew a calendar year if it needs to turn out to be a global leader in this commodity. India processed all around one.four million tonnes of cashew in 2019, whilst Vietnam processed all around one.nine million tonnes. India need to to start with satisfy the domestic demand and then exports the surplus, he claimed.

Gain India

With regard to strengths for India vis-à-vis Vietnam in the cashew sector, Kamath claimed the country has a captive domestic current market. But China is the captive and escalating current market for Vietnam.

A uncooked cashewnut yields 4 products and solutions – cashewnut shell liquid (CNSL), broken cashews, decreased quality cashews, and main exportable cashews. He claimed India has the finest realisation for all 4.

In a lot of African nations, shells are just wasted. Broken cashews have no demand in most of the nations. It is only India wherever it is sold. The decreased cashew grades once again have no demand in most of the nations. That is why India has great toughness in processing, he claimed.

Indian strengths are a little something that Vietnamese simply cannot capture up with, and that is why the over-all advantage is in favour of India, Kamath claimed.

Urging the authorities to share these sentiments of the stakeholders in the cashew sector and to build procedures conducive for the progress of this sector in this country, Rao claimed this sector generates work, exports and supports farm generate.

“Once we get by the bottlenecks, we will be a sunrise sector of this country and will considerably contribute to the Aatmanirbhar Bharat movement,” Rao extra.