Goa's cashew industry is in dire straits as many processing industries are getting shuttered due to stiff competition from cheaper imported nuts, climate change, plantations being sold to builders etc.
In the past few years about 500 cashew processing plants have sprung up in Kolhapur and Belagavi as cashew production has increased in these areas.
Raw cashew from Tanzania, Benin and Tonga are brought in for as low as Rs 88 per kg while the crop from Karnataka and Maharashtra is available for @ Rs 100 per kg.
As against this Goan cashew retails for Rs 157 and doesn't find many takers. The other very worrisome aspect is that the yield in our state is only 1 kg per tree as opposed to 12 kgs in other countries.
Neighbouring States too are tapping new and improved planting and cashew harvesting techniques while Goa relies on old existing trees and orthodox methods of farming.
It is clear that the cashew industry in Goa is on the verge of closing down for good unless the government and the cashew cultivators resort to some out of the box thinking.
