Goa’s cashew production has been drastically affected by climate change and the only way out for farmers is to increase production with better management practices, agricultural experts said at a seminar on Saturday.
“If in a hectare with 200 cashew trees a yield of even 2,000 kg nuts per annum is achieved it will yield an income of ` 1 lakh per annum for the farmer,” said agriculture director S P Tendulkar. Tendulkar was speaking at a day-long seminar on “new challenges in cashew production under current trends of climate change” organized by ICAR Research Complex and the directorate of cashewnut and cocoa development, Kochi, at Old Goa. Pointing out that some farmers have achieved production of 4,000 kg per ha per annum from grafted trees, Tendulkar said Goa’s average is 500 kg per ha per annum.
“There is no proper management and farmers have a casual attitude towards the crop despite its high income potential,” he said. The cashew crop covers 55,000 ha for production of over 22,000 metric tonne (MT) and employs over a lakh people in the ` 200 crore industry. “With better management practices, production can be more than doubled,” he said. Experts explained how irrigation and pest control which are not part of the average farmer’s practice, can make a difference to the crop. Stating that it would be difficult to sustain the crop due to climate changes, Tendulkar said that changes seen during the last 50 years have been witnessed in just a few past years.
“During 2008-09 and 2009-10, the total production slid to 13.65 MT and 13.170 MT respectively from 27.071 MT in 2005-06 and 21.994 MT in 2007-08,” said Tendulkar. Madhav Sahakari, president of Goa Cashew Processors Association said, “It is a crop requiring least care and hardly any water.” But farmers who have hardly followed any management practices could easily increase production, which has stagnated at 22,000 to 25,000 MT with a little effort. Stating that it is important to produce more in Goa instead of importing cashew nuts of lesser quality, Sahakari said, “Goan cashew nuts command a premium price of 8% to 12% more than other products.” V K Jha, secretary agriculture, said the state will soon sponsor a cashew cluster scheme in Ponda.
