The Hindu Business Line : Cashew industry looks to East for growth

Looking east
Vision 2020 goal for the country is to produce 1.95 million tonnes of cashew.
Tuni, Jeypore are now attracting the attention of manufacturers from the west coast.

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Mangalore March 5 The cashew industry is now looking at the eastern coast of the country as a region of promise. While the Vision 2020 Committee of the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) expects the eastern States to contribute around half of the production target set for 2020, cashew processors and manufacturers from the west coast are planning to assess the viability of processing cashew in the east coast.

Output goal

Mr G. Giridhar Prabhu, Convenor of Vision 2020 Committee of CEPCI, told Business Line that the Vision 2020 goal is to produce 1.95 million tonnes of cashew. Of this, the east will have to produce half of the Vision 2020 goal, which will be close to 9.5 lakh tonnes. At least two lakh tonnes will have to come from Tamil Nadu, four lakh tonnes from Andhra Pradesh and 3.5 lakh tonnes from Orissa, West Bengal, and North-East.

REGIONS OF PROMISE

"Eastern states are regions of promise for cashew as they have shown rapid development in cultivation and process over the last two decades. There could be continual improvement based on interaction and provision of knowledge and technology," he said.

Stating that Andhra Pradesh is following crude traditional methods in processing, he said it could benefit from induction of the technology followed in Mangalore region. Though Orissa is following relatively modern methods, its packaging has to be organised to world standards.

The manufacture and export will also have to take place from the eastern ports of the country, Mr Prabhu said.

KCMA DELEGATION

Meanwhile, the major cashew processing centres in the east coast — Tuni in Andhra Pradesh and Jeypore in Orissa — are now attracting the attention of cashew manufacturers from the west coast.

A delegation of the Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers' Association (KCMA) will visit these centres for six days from March 7 to study the viability of cashew processing there.

The President of KCMA, Mr K. Prakash Rao, said Tuni and Jeypore are considered as major cashew processing centres in the east coast. It is mainly because of the availability of raw cashew and cheap labour in these regions.

Migration Possible

Jeypore has gained a reputation for supply of cashew kernels. There is a possibility of cashew sector in Kerala migrating its processing activity to the east coast, he said.

Cashew industry in Karnataka, which has an edge on quality of processing, packaging and exports, will interact with cashew processors in the east coast to add value to its current capabilities. The KCMA delegation will interact with processors to share knowledge on cultivation, harvest, post-harvest systems of raw cashews in the eastern belt of the country, he said.

Mr Prabhu said inputs from the KCMA delegation would be utilised for the formulation of strategy to implement Vision 2020.

Mr Prakash Rao said discussion would be held during the visit to form India Cashew Federation. During cashew festivals in Goa in 2005 and in Bangalore in 2006, resolutions were taken to form India Cashew Federation and efforts will be made in this regard, he said.