Gujarat farmers reap fruits of cashew tree

Gujarat farmers reap fruits of
cashew trees

Drop in average temperature by five degrees has helped Saurashtra farmers grow cashew nuts in the hills of Rajkot, Junagadh and Surendranagar districts

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Gujarat is traditionally known for its exportquality mangoes. But it may soon make a name in cashew production. A drop in the average temperature in the hilly areas of Saurashtra has helped farmers grow cashew nuts there.
Farmers in the state have always been keen to experiment with crop. They already produce seedless Taiwanese papayas, black tomatoes, violet capsicum, sugarfree potatoes, cashews and square-shaped watermelons.

BOOST IN PRODUCTION
TILL THREE years ago, cashew nuts were also alien to the region. Now, climate change has boosted cashew production here. This time, farmers saw a 30 per cent rise in production of the nuts compared to last year.
K B Kikani, scientist and former vice-chancellor of Junagadh Agriculture University, said, “Temperature has gone down by five degrees over the past few years. Also, good rainfall in the last six years has made cashew cultivation a viable option.”

RENEWED FARMING EFFORTS
THE UNIVERSITY had tried to grow cashew trees fifteen years ago. “However, we did not get the desired results then. We conducted experiments on cashew nut farming in our university farmhouse. We have finally got positive results in terms of growth and production. The hilly areas in Saurashtra is suitable for cashew cultivation,” he said.
Junagadh, Bhavnagar and Rajkot are good places to plant cashew trees, said Kikani. “We have got good results from places where mangoes were earlier cultivated. The temperature in these areas used to be 45 degrees in summer. It has dropped to around 40 degrees now,” added Kikani.
Farmers in Surat, Valsad and Dang districts too are growing cashews that many believe are superior to Goa cashews in terms of taste, whiteness and crunchiness. Two years ago, 6100 hectare of land in this area was used to produce 14,000 tonnes of cashew nuts.
Most cashew plantations in South Gujarat are done on co-operative basis with NGOs, committed to rural development, acting as facilitators to motivate farmers for cashew plantations.

STATE PRODUCTION’S: 17,000 TONNES

DEPUTY DIRECTOR from Department of Horticulture said,. “Last year, the production of cashew nuts in the state was over 17,000 tonnes. Out of this, the best produce in terms of quality was received from Valsad district. This year, more farmers have started growing cashews. About 700 hectare of land was used to grow cashews last year.”