The Cashewnut
Introduction: The
Cashewnut (Anacardium occidentale L.) is one of the important nut tree grown in the
tropical world. This fruit tree was introducted into Malbar coast of India in 16th
century by Portuguese. It is the native of Brazil. It is grown mostly on West Coast area
of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Importance: The dry
nuts Kernels are of high nutritive value and also rich in protein, carbohydrates,
minerals like calcium, phosphorus and iron. This has a great export value and is
considered as one of the important horticultural crop in India.
Climate: The Cashew
requires a minimum rainfall of 60 cm per annum, but can stand extremes of rainfall from 20
cm to 400 cm. If there is sufficient water supply, it can withstand a long period of dry
spell and low humidity. The Cashew is a sun loving tree and does not tolerate excessive
shade, also it does not favour very high temperatures above 45 deg cent. During the fruit
set and development. Heavy rains and cloudy weather during flowering adversely affect the
yield.
Soil: The Cashew is
cultivated on a wide variety of soils. It is considered a crop of marginal land and is
recommended for slopy and light soils. The best soils for better production are deep,
friable, well drained and without a hard pan upto 2/3 m in depth. The Cashew is mainly
grown on Laterite, red and coastal sands in India.
Varieties: The
following are the important varieties of Cashew grown in different parts of the country.
Vengurla 1
Vengurla 2
Vengurla 3
Vengurla 4
Vengurla 5
Vengurla 6
Bhubaneshwar
Kanaka
Dhana
Selection
Propagation: The
cashew is grown by the following methods:
Seed propagation: it
is the oldest and cheapest method of propagation. It is also used to raise the plants for
the purpose of grafting.
Layering this method
is more successful in coastal and more humid areas.
Soft wood grafting.
This is followed both in the nursery as well as in the field of in-situ. For this purpose,
veener grafting is done.
Top-working
This method is used not for propagation but for converting inferior free into desirable
one.
Planting and Season:
Normally cashew grafts are planted at the spacing of 7.0 x 7.0 or 7.5 x 7.5 or 8.0 x 8.0 m
on plain land or on desirable contours on slopy lands. After marking, the pits of 60x60x60
cm are dug and filled with a compost,top soil, single super phosphate and karnaj cake.
This is to be well before the monsoon starts. Planting should be done during June-July
i.e. in the beginning of monsoon.
Interculturing:
Removal of weeds is
done once twice
Intercrops are
planted in interspace
Some perenial forest
plants and/or some seasonal crops can be taken as per the local need and situation.
Care of young
orchard:
Gap filling for the
missing plants
Removal of outgrowth
on stocks in case of grafted plants
Staking with
bamboos.
Cover cropping
Providing protective
irrigation during first few summers. These are some of the points for young plantations.
Special
Horticultural practices:
Pruning of dead and
dried shoots alongwith crisscross branches and water shoots
Pruning of leader
shoots in June followed by 2% KNO3 spray
Spraying with 10 ppm
NAA twice during flowering for increasing fruit set and minimizing flower and fruit drop.
Irrigation: The
cashew is mostly grown as the rainfed crop and requires no irrigation in the high rainfall
areas. However, if the rainfall is low, the cashew responses well to irrigation water at
the time of fruit set upto full development stage of nuts. Irrigation should not be given
before or at the time of flowering, as it is likely to promote vegetative growth.
Nutrition: To
improve the growth and yield the cashew trees should be manured and fertilized with
biofertilizers like biomeal and NpK 500,200, 200 gm per tree per year. Spraying with
ultrazyme and 8:12:24:4 NPKmg twice, during fruit development is useful to increase size
and yield of nuts.
Plant Protection:
The crop particularly blossom and fruits should be protected against Tea Mosquito, Stem
and root borer is also an important pest. Leaf minor, Leaf and blossom webber, Flower
thrips are the common pests in neglected orchards. Inflorescence blight, pink disease, and
anthrac nose are some diseases found on cashew. Clean cultivation, pruning, better
aeration and preventive measures should be adopted besides occassional sprays of selected
pesticides and fungicides.
Harvesting and
yield: The Cashew comes to its full bearing stage at the age of 10th year and
continuous to give yield further for 30-40 years. Usually the nuts are collected after
they fall off from the tree. They are separated from apples and dried for 2/3 days to
reduce the moisture. Regarding yield there is a wide variation and differences of
opinions. However, the desirable variety at good management yields 50 kg of raw nuts.
Post harvest
handling: The processing of raw nuts involves roasting, shelling, drying, peeling, grading
and packing `A grade nuts are always in demand from the outside markets and fetch a
good price. A Fenny like drinks are prepared from the apples.
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