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G.K. Nair

KOCHI, Feb. 18

THE Maharashtra Government is contemplating an additional investment of Rs 100 crore to expand cashew plantation in the State in the next five years.

This would raise the total area under cashew to two lakh hectares and the production to two lakh tonnes, sources at Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa Development, here told Business Line.

The area under cashew in Maharashtra had been raised from 16,000 hectares in 1990 to 1.25 lakh hectares in 2000 and a majority of the plantations is in the bearing stage. Thus, when all these trees started yielding fruit, the cashew output in the State could touch 1.5 lakh tonnes by 2005, the sources said. The national production of raw cashewnuts from a total area of an estimated 6.8 lakh hectares this year is projected at 4.5 lakh tonnes. With the expected increase cashew yield, Maharashtra would become the top cashewnut producer in the country.

Currently, cashew is grown in Sindhudurga, Ratnagiri and Thane and, to some extent, in western parts of Kolhapur, Satara and Pune districts. However, Ratnagiri contributed 47 per cent of the total area. Nearly, 11,000-12,000 ha are being brought under cashew under the State employment guarantee programme at an investment of Rs 20-21 crore.

In order to encourage farmers to store raw nuts and to ease out the working capital interest burden, the Maharashtra Government plans to give an interest subsidy to the extent of eight per cent to the maximum tune of Rs 80,000. Another subsidy of 25 per cent to the limit of Rs 50,000 is also proposed for the establishment of processing units.

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