Kochi, Oct. 4 Mainly on account of the global economic recession, there was a four per cent decrease in cashew kernels exported at 1,09,523 tonnes valued at Rs 2,988.40 crore last year, said Mr Bharathan Pillai, Chairman of the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India.
The total foreign exchange earned through export of cashew kernels, cashew nut shell liquid and allied products last year was $656 million or Rs 3,014 crore.
Addressing the 54th annual general meeting of the Council he said that the US, the Netherlands, the UAE and Japan continued to be major buyers. The American zone accounted for 34 per cent of the exports, followed by Europe with 30 per cent, West Asia with 25 per cent, South and Far East contributing eight per cent each and Oceania two per cent.
Besides earning valuable foreign exchange, the cashew industry being labour-intensive, generated employment for 10 lakh workers — 95 per cent of whom are rural women.
Industry requirement
According to the estimate of the Directorate of Cashewnut and Cocoa Development, the production of raw cashewnuts last year was 6.95 lakh tonnes ( 6.65 lakh tonnes).
The raw nut requirement of the cashew processing industry is estimated at over 12 lakh tonnes an annum and the availability from internal sources is only about half of this. The balance is met by imports from other producing countries, mainly Africa and Indonesia.
Promotion efforts
As such, it is important to make the country self-sufficient in the matter of raw cashewnuts, Mr Bharathan pointed out. He appreciated the Government’s efforts in this direction by promoting re-plantation and expansion into new cultivation areas.
The Kerala Government has set up a special agency for promoting cashew cultivation under the chairmanship of the Cashew Special Officer. The Council appealed to the exporters to actively support this initiative of the Kerala Government.
Fund allocation
The Council also requested the Union Government to allocate sufficient funds to put forward necessary schemes to increase the production as also the productivity and bring it on par with Vietnam, which is reported to be 2,000 kg/hectare against about 815 kg/hectare in India.
It is also implementing the export promotion schemes under the Eleventh Five-Year Plan through the modernisation and diversification programmes for providing assistance to member exporters.
The total approved outlay under the Plan is Rs 19.36 crore, of which 50 per cent is for setting up facilities for value addition. The exporters are eligible for 25 per cent of the expenditure subject to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh/exporter. Civil works amounting to not more than 50 per cent of the total expenditure would also be eligible as grant-in-aid.
Source : Business Line