Cashew apple potential untapped

Call for the better utilisation of cashew apples. Thousands of tonnes of fruit being wasted in State every year. The production of juice from cashew apples will fetch income to farmers. For farmers, the fruit is of no value. But, if the juice can be marketed, it can take care of the expenses of the plantation.

Vizianagaram: Cashew growers sought the help of the State government to help farmers make use of cashew apple, which gets wasted in large quantities. They urged the government to help them in identifying the viable alternatives on utilisation of cashew apples.

Farmers are of the opinion that cashew apples produced in the State could be utilised for production of alcoholic beverages such as “Fenny” and non-alcoholic beverages and other products such as cashew juice, syrup, jam, candy, chutney and pickles like in Goa and Kerala.

As thousands of tonnes of cashew apples go waste every year in the State, the farmers have urged the Horticulture department to help them in ensuring that the nutritious pulp is put to good use. Horticulture department is making all-out efforts to ensure that farmers growing cashew realise the commercial value of cashew apples. It is intending to increase awareness of the product among farmers.

Proper utilisation of cashew apples will have many benefits, as it will increase income of farmers and make cashew cultivation more viable. Experts believe that the production of the juice will be an important supplementary income in cashew plantations, where the fruit is now used only as manure. It is believed that the processing of the fruit can make cashew as lucrative as areca or rubber in the region.

Thousands of tonnes of cashew apple fruit is wasted at present in Andhra Pradesh. For farmers, the fruit is of
no value. But, if the juice can be marketed, it can take care of the expenses of the plantation.

It is estimated that Vizianagaram district produces about two lakh tonnes of cashew apples every year. At present, growers remove only the cashew nut from the apple leaving the fruit to fall on the ground and rot. The farmers are selling the cashew nut from the apple at good rates in the market.

It may be recalled here that Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest producers of horticulture crops including cashew apples. It is estimated that each acre of cashew garden produces around 4-5 quintals of nuts which costs around Rs 7,000 per quintal in the peak season (between April and June) and it will fetch Rs 10,000 during off season (between July –January). A farmer can earn around Rs 25,000 from each acre of cashew farm. Each acre of garden will produce minimum two tonnes of fruits. Cashew is cultivated in one lakh hectares of land in Vizag, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.

Deputy Director of Horticulture K Rammohan Rao told ‘The Hans India’, “The increase in raw cashew production will help cashew industry to expand and generate more jobs in rural India.” He said the fruit has rich minerals and vitamins and added that the Horticulture department is planning to promote cottage industries to put the cashew apples to proper use.

He said the department would study the firms in Kerala and would conduct a seminar on viable alternatives on utilisation of cashew apples to create awareness among the farmers.