Problems of cashew growers discussed at Geru Mela

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Feb 11, 2012 : Geru Mela, an expo of cashew products, was held at the Horticultural Research station belonging to the University of Horticulture at Ullal on Feb 10 Friday. A number of cashew growers participated in the event and expressed their views.

Among the participants were Joseph Pinto, who has grown 15 cashew trees on his 1.5 acre plot in Neermarga; Marcel Braggesh, who has 100 cashew trees in Merlapadav; Sanjay Bhat of Neermarga; and others.

Most of the cashew growers take minimum care of the trees, allowing them to grow wild while some of them employ certain techniques such as pruning. Many growers voiced their concern that employing recommended techniques requires plenty of labour, which is not readily available.

The scientists at the Horticultural Research Station said that the state has the potential to grow more cashews. Speaking on the issue, M. Gangadhar Nayak, the principal scientist at the Directorate of Cashew Research in Puttur, said that an average 900kg cashew is harvested per hectare of land while the potential is around 4 tons per hectare.

S. D. Sampath Samrajya of the Board of Management of Horticultural University said that the reason for poor yield is lack of plant protection measures, adding that pesticides other than Endosulphan can be sprayed regularly on the trees to protect them and ensure better yield.

He also said that the government is providing subsidy of Rs. 20,000 per hectare for 3 years under the National Horticultural Mission and 25 percent subsidy for the purchase of cashew processing equipment.

Scientists also provided valuable information on cashew variants and various cashew products.