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Cashew is a robust and hardy tree, and it can do well even in marginal soils in rainfed tracts and also in the vast coastal belts in southern India. The grafts of improved cashew varieties such as VRI-2 and VRI-3, which are ideally suited for the coastal region. While the local tress raised from seeds gave a poor return of less than 2 kg nuts per tree in a year from the seventh or eighth year of planting, the grafts of improved varieties will yield on an average 5 kg nuts per tree in a year from the fifth year onwards. Carefully chosen the parent stocks, and has trained some people in the soft wood grafting. The plants are then conditioned in mist chambers, and gradually moved to the open over a prescribed period. The treatment in mist chamber and gradual conditioning of the plants, make them well adapted to field conditions, and their survival rate in the fields is quiet high. VRI-2 and VRI-3 are considered as ideal for planting in the coastal belts. It produced on an average 10 kg per tree in a year from the sixth year of planting. However, the grafts of this improved variety will come to bearing from the third year of planting. It has a potential of yielding 2000 kg per hectare. The nuts of this variety will be small and hundred nuts will weigh about 512 g. VRI-3 is a high yielding variety from TNAU. It yields bold nuts. Hundred nuts will weigh about 718 g. Each tree will yield on an average 15 kg nuts in a year from the sixth year of planting, and the per hectare yield will be about 2600 kg. A spacing of 7m by 7m has been found ideal for planting cashew and in a hectare about 200 trees can be accommodated. Even under harsh growing conditions, the improved varieties will produce roughly 5 kg per tree in a year once the bearing stabilizes, and it will ensure a productivity of at least 1000kg nuts per hectare. |