the goan I network
MARGAO
Can the government work out a mechanism to protect the local cashew nut industry with a host of outside players reportedly making forays in the traditional business under Brand Goa banner.
Even as the fluctuating procurement price of raw cashew nut has come as a dampener for the local farmers, with the price hitting as low as Rs 123 a kg as against last year’s price of Rs 160 per kg, farmers engaged in the business of cashew nut have raised concern over the marketing of the cashew nut under Brand Goa banner.
Chairman of Goa Marketing Board and chief of the Adarsh Krishi Society, Prakash Velip said the government should set up a mechanism to test the quality of the cashew nut, primarily to ascertain whether the same was produced in Goa or outside.
“Neighbouring Maharashtra has gone into cashew production in an aggressive manner. So also, the Southern states have laid much stress on cashew cultivation in their states. We have information that cashew is imported into Goa not just from other parts of the country, but from the African countries such as South Africa and Tanzania,” he said.
Velip pointed out that Goa cashew nut is popular all over the world because of its unique taste and quality, fearing that packaging of the product imported into the State and selling the same under Brand Goa banner may impact the industry in the long run.
To tide over the situation, the Marketing Board chairman has suggested that the government should put in place a system wherein the cashew nut produced from Goa and the imported one is tested and certified before the same is sold under Brand Goa.
In the meantime, Velip and other dealers have said the price of raw cashew nut has come down from Rs 160 per kg last year to Rs 123 this year. Velip attributed the low rate to a host of reasons, including the low international prices of cashews and the moderate crop of the cashew this season.
“Unlike in the past, cashew production is now underway 24x7 across the world. Many states have gone into production of cashew on a big scale. Expansion of cashew production is also on the rise at the international level,” he said, while pinning hopes on the government to take a call on the situation after the model code of conduct is withdrawn by the Election Commission.
