A.J. Vinayak

Mangalore , May 30

THE cashew season is drawing to a close in Karnataka with the State having produced around 35,000 tonnes of raw cashewnuts this year.

Cashew manufacturing units in the State have absorbed almost all the production; they need more to run the processing units to the installed capacity of one lakh tonnes.

In this regard, the industry is planning to import around 40,000 tonnes of raw cashewnuts from other countries.

Karnataka has around 130 cashew manufacturing units in Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Kolar and Belgaum districts.

The President of the Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers' Association (KCMA), Mr K. Prakash Rao, told Business Line that even if the cashew processing units outsource 20,000-25,000 tonnes from Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra, Karnataka would still need another 35,000-40,000 tonnes this year. This will have to be imported from other countries.

Mr G. Giridhar Prabhu, Proprietor of Achal Cashew Industries, said coastal Karnataka was expecting good quantities of raw cashewfrom West African countries.

The New Mangalore Port is expected to handle around 3,200 tonnes (204 containers) of raw cashewnuts this week.

Mr Prabhu said the arrival of raw cashewnut in coastal Karnataka had declined in the past 10 days and the crop had been fully absorbed by the processing units in the State.

To become self-reliant in cashew production, there is a need to increase the area of cashew plantations in the State.

Mr Rao said cashew production in the State should be increased to one lakh tonnes by 2015.

To achieve this, new plantations should come up and the existing ones should be rejuvenated. KCMA has already initiated some steps in this regard, he added.

However, the prices of raw cashewnuts have come down at the end of May, mainly due to quality considerations.

Mr Rao said the cashew season opened in Karnataka in February. The grower, who was getting Rs 44-45 a kg then, is getting Rs 38-39 now.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu Business Line