The Hindu Business Line : Plea to raise aid for growing cashew crop

The current pattern of assistance made available to promote cashew crop in the country is said to be quite inadequate and to motivate the farmers to take up its cultivation it has to be enhanced to make it attractive given the increased input costs, according to experts.

The pattern of assistance of the Directorate of Cashew and Coco Development (DCCD) for cultivation of cashew is 50 per cent of the cost subject to a maximum of Rs 9,000 a hectare in three instalments at 50:30:20: basis for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year respectively. It works out to Rs 4,500 for 1st year, Rs 2,700 for 2nd year and Rs 1,800 for 3rd year which will come to Rs 45 a plant in three years, says Dr Abdul Salam, Professor& Head, Department of Agronomy and Cashew Expert College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram. Dr Salam, who has submitted a proposal to the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) for the Kerala State Agency for Cashew Cultivation (KSACC) at the behest of Mr P.K. Gurudasan, Minister for Labour, Excise and Cashew, told Business Line that the current package is too meagre and needs to be enhanced to somewhere near the level of assistance given to other cash crops such as rubber, tea, coffee etc.

ORGANIC CASHEW

The cashew farmers need to be motivated to take up organic cashew cultivation so as to raise the indigenous production of this important raw material and to reduce the dependence of the country's cashew industry on imports. According to him the assistance per tree should be raised to Rs 150 for three years from Rs 45. The cost of various inputs has gone up while the labour cost in Kerala has shot up several folds. The actual cost per plant for three years works out to Rs 358 and against this the assistance needs to be Rs 150 a plant for three years for all the cashew growing States except Kerala, where it has to be Rs 200 given the high labour cost, he argued. He said the proposal was expected to be cleared by the NHM soon.

WAGE RATES

Here the labour requirement for cashew estimated by the DCCD is assumed, for estimating the cost of cultivation. DCCD estimates man days of 150, 73 and 40 for the first, second and third years of planting at a wage rate of Rs 100 a man-day. But the wage rate in Kerala today ranges from Rs 200 to Rs 300 a man-day. Therefore, in the proposal it has been given as Rs 150 a man-day and that has raised the demand for assistance than what is offered by government.

At a wage rate of Rs 150 a man-day the cost of cultivation of organic cashew is Rs 31,500 a hectare during first year while its maintenance cost during 10th year is Rs 39,000/hectare, he said.

The man day requirement for cashew cultivation during first year is 150/hectare and the same during 10th year is 100/hectare. The input cost is Rs 45/tree during first year and Rs 120/tree during 10th year. The labour cost during first year is Rs112 /tree and the same during 10th year is Rs 75/tree.

HIGH COMPETITION

Today, India is facing tough competition from other cashew producing countries in South East Asia such as Vietnam and Africa. The situation demands that the country should reduce its dependence on imported raw nuts. At the same time to be competitive "we have to increase our productivity (yield) per hectare to the level of other producing countries especially Vietnam or more and that demands support from the government and other agencies", he pointed out.

Kerala scenario

Among Indian states, till recently Kerala occupied the first position with respect to area and production of cashew. But, today, it has come down to sixth and fourth with respect to area and production respectively. According to 2005-06 statistics, cashew area in Kerala has shrunk to 87,333 hectare with a production of 67,667 tonnes. The trend in cashew area and production in the State (three year moving averages) clearly indicates sharp decline in area, production and productivity during the last 14 years period. In fact, it looks like a disastrous period with respect to cashew development in the state. Substitution of cashew area with rubber is said to be one of the most important reasons for this dismal trend.

Given this situation the State Government has created the KSSCC so as to improve cashew cultivation in the State so as to regain its lost glory, he said.