Cashew farmers in India have formed All-India Cashew Growers’ Association, a national-level platform that will highlight their problems and issues, at a meeting held at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.
According to a press release, a cashew farmer from Dakshina Kannada district, Nanya Achyuta Moodattaya has been unanimously selected as President of the new association. In addition, Shankaranarayana Bhat Khandige, a cashew grower who hails from Kasaragod district of Kerala, has been chosen as Vice-President of the alliance.
Deviprasad Kallaje from Dakshina Kannada district is the Secretary, Vilas Anantarao Thakur of Maharashtra is the Joint-Secretary and Subhas Rai Kadamajalu from Dakshina Kannada district is the Treasurer of the association.
Moreover, 8 members from Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have been elected as trustees of the organisation.
Cashew nut is a native of Brazil and was introduced in India during the second half of the 16th century for the purpose of afforestation & soil conservation. From its meek beginning as a crop intended to check soil erosion, cashew has emerged as a key foreign exchange earner next to tea and coffee.
Cashew cultivation is taken up in 8 states of India – Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Recently, Director of the Kochi-based Directorate of Cashew nut and Cocoa Development (DCCD), Venkatesh N Hubballi informed that the cashew cultivation has now being extended to non-traditional States of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan. During the Foundation Day celebrations of the Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, Hubballi said that cashew will be planted in about 2,000 hectares in Madhya Pradesh in 2019-20. He told cashew cultivation will also be introduced in Rajasthan this year. Though the survey is yet to be done, plans are there to cover around 150 hectares there.
