The Hindu Business Line : Concern over increasing cashew supply

THE fact that overall production of cashew is increasing while consumption has remained more or less stagnant has caused a crisis of sorts in the cashew industry, according to the Chairman of the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI), Mr K. Krishna Pillai.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a cashew festival jointly organised by the Mangalore Cashew Manufacturers' Association (MCMA) and the Mangalore University's Department of Business Administration on Saturday, Mr Pillai, going over the problems and potential of the cashew industry, said new plantations were coming up, especially in African countries where cashew development programmes were being undertaken with World Bank assistance.

This boom in production, coupled with a fall in prices, has ended up snowballing into a series of problems, which the cashew industry is now in the process of addressing, according to Mr Pillai.

The cashew festival here, said to be the first of its kind in this region, is primarily meant to create an awareness about cashew. As part of this campaign, Mr. Pillai said that cashew, apart from being the tastiest nut among other nuts, also has immense nutritional value containing not only protein but also several vitamins and minerals.

"Ten cashewnuts a day,'' said Mr Pillai, ''are good for the heart.''

On his part, the CEPCI Vice-Chairman, Mr Walter D'Souza, also the co-ordinator of the cashew festival, spoke of a paradigm shift from mere selling to marketing.

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