Cashew

https://agri.bot/crop-calendar/cashew

India is one of the world's leading cashew producers, with annual raw cashew nut production of roughly 700,000 – 800,000 MT from about 1.1 million hectares, and is also the world's largest processor and exporter of cashew kernels — the export trade is coordinated by the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI), Kollam. The nodal R&D body is ICAR–Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR), Puttur, Karnataka, established in 1986 by elevating the former Cashew Section of ICAR–CPCRI Vittal into a full directorate; DCR coordinates the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Cashew with 10+ centres across the east- and west-coast cashew belts. Maharashtra (Konkan — Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg), Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are the top production states by area and output. The development agency under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is the Directorate of Cashewnut and Cocoa Development (DCCD), Kochi, which runs area-expansion, replanting of senile orchards and nursery accreditation under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).

Twelve-month operations

Fertilizer schedule

ICAR–DCR recommended NPK dose for an adult bearing cashew tree (year 6 onwards) is 500 g N + 125 g P₂O₅ + 125 g K₂O per tree per year, applied in two equal splits — first dose with the pre-monsoon showers in May – Jun and the second in Sep – Oct post-monsoon, placed in a shallow ring 1.5 – 2 m from the trunk and incorporated by light forking. Juvenile years follow a graded schedule — year 1 at ⅕ of the adult dose stepping up each year to full adult dose from year 6. Farmyard manure or compost at 10 – 20 kg per tree per year is applied along with the first split. Micronutrient correction (zinc, boron) is recommended on the leached Konkan laterites and the Odisha / Andhra Pradesh red soils based on leaf analysis.

Pest & disease management

The headline pests and diseases are: (1) Tea Mosquito Bug (TMB — Helopeltis antonii) — the single biggest pest of cashew in India, feeding on tender shoots, panicles and immature nuts and causing dieback and heavy nut shedding; the DCR schedule calls for three sprays at the flushing, flowering and fruit-set stages in a rotation of lambda-cyhalothrin, profenofos and imidacloprid to delay resistance; (2) Cashew Stem and Root Borer (CSRB — Plocaederus ferrugineus) — a lethal trunk borer whose grubs tunnel through the collar region and kill the tree, managed by early detection of frass extrusion, surgical removal of grubs and swabbing with chlorpyriphos 0.2% paste on the exposed tissue; (3) Cashew Shoot Tip Caterpillar (Anarsia epotias) which bores into tender shoots; (4) powdery mildew on young flushes and inflorescences; (5) inflorescence blight (Gloeosporium / Colletotrichum spp.) during cloudy, humid flowering weather; (6) Cashew Fruit and Nut Borer (Thylacoptila paurosema) feeding inside developing nuts; the ICAR–DCR integrated pest management module combines pruning for sanitation, pheromone traps, botanical sprays and the three timed insecticide sprays for TMB.

Irrigation

Cashew is largely rainfed on the Konkan laterites (Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg), Goa and the Karnataka hill tracts, drawing on the heavy south-west monsoon rainfall of 2,500 – 3,500 mm. However, DCR-recommended drip irrigation at 60 – 80 L/tree/week during the critical flowering-to-nut-fill phase (Jan – Apr) has been shown to raise yields by 40 – 50% in commercial high-density cashew orchards on the Andhra Pradesh (Srikakulam, Vizianagaram), Odisha (Ganjam) and Tamil Nadu (Cuddalore) east-coast belts, where the dry period is longer and summer temperatures higher than on the Konkan west coast. Basin irrigation at 150 – 200 L per tree once every 10 – 15 days during the flowering-fruit-set window is the traditional alternative where drip is not laid.

Sources

• ICAR–DCR — Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur
• DCCD — Directorate of Cashewnut and Cocoa Development, Kochi
• CEPCI — Cashew Export Promotion Council of India, Kollam
• APEDA Agri Exchange — Cashew kernels and products
• FAOSTAT — Cashew nut production (Anacardium occidentale)
• MIDH — Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture guidelines

Frequently asked questions

Why is India a leading cashew producer, and which states dominate?

India is one of the world's leading cashew producers alongside Côte d'Ivoire, Vietnam, Tanzania and Benin, with annual raw cashew nut production of roughly 700,000 – 800,000 MT from about 1.1 million hectares, and is simultaneously the world's largest processor and exporter of cashew kernels — the processing hub around Kollam in Kerala alone handles raw cashew imports from Africa in addition to domestic production. The leading production states are Maharashtra (the Konkan laterite belt of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, famous for the Vengurla series and the premium Konkan W-240 and W-320 kernel grades), Andhra Pradesh (Srikakulam, Vizianagaram), Odisha (Ganjam, Gajapati), Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu), Kerala (Kasaragod, Kannur), Tamil Nadu (Cuddalore, Thiruvallur), Goa (home of the cashew-apple feni GI), West Bengal (Purulia), Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and the north-east states Meghalaya and Tripura. The nodal R&D institute is ICAR–DCR Puttur, Karnataka, and the development agency under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is DCCD, Kochi; export promotion is handled by CEPCI, Kollam.

What are the main cashew varieties released by ICAR–DCR and the AICRP on Cashew?

The headline DCR / AICRP-Cashew varietal releases are, by regional AICRP centre: (a) Vengurla series from RFRS Vengurla (Maharashtra, Konkan belt) — Vengurla-1, Vengurla-2, Vengurla-3, Vengurla-4 (early flowering, high-yielding, the most widely planted on the Konkan), Vengurla-5, Vengurla-6, Vengurla-7, Vengurla-8 and Vengurla-9; (b) VRI series from TNAU–VRI Vridhachalam (Tamil Nadu, east-coast belt) — VRI-1, VRI-2, VRI-3, VRI-4 and the hybrid VRI-H1; (c) Bhaskara, Dhana and Priyanka from Kerala Agricultural University's Cashew Research Station at Madakkathara, Thrissur; (d) Ullal series from the UAS-Bangalore Cashew Research Station at Ullal (coastal Karnataka) — Ullal-1, Ullal-2, Ullal-3 and Ullal-4; (e) NRCC Sel-2 and the Bhubaneswar BPP series (BPP-1, BPP-2, BPP-3, BPP-4, BPP-5, BPP-6, BPP-8) from OUAT Bhubaneswar for the Odisha east-coast belt; (f) DCR's own releases from Puttur include Chintamani-1 and Chintamani-2 for the Chikkamagaluru / Chintamani uplands. Nut sizes range from W-180 (jumbo kernels, premium export grade) through W-240 and W-320 (standard commercial grades) to W-450 (small). The authoritative current list is published on dcr.icar.gov.in and in the AICRP-Cashew annual report.

How is Tea Mosquito Bug (TMB) managed in cashew orchards?

Tea Mosquito Bug (Helopeltis antonii) is the single most damaging pest of cashew in India, responsible for yield losses of 30 – 50% in unprotected orchards. Adults and nymphs feed on tender vegetative flushes, panicles and immature nuts, injecting phytotoxic saliva that causes black necrotic lesions, dieback of shoots, drying of panicles and heavy nut-set shedding. ICAR–DCR's integrated management module calls for three timed sprays with insecticide rotation to delay resistance: (1) first spray at the flushing stage (Oct – Nov on the Konkan, Nov – Dec on the east coast) with lambda-cyhalothrin 0.003%; (2) second spray at the full-flowering stage (Dec – Jan on the Konkan, Jan – Feb on the east coast) with profenofos 0.05%; (3) third spray at the fruit-set stage (Jan – Feb) with imidacloprid 0.005% or acephate 0.075%. The sprays are complemented by sanitation pruning of dead and TMB-affected shoots, light pruning of the canopy to improve air circulation and spray penetration, and avoidance of susceptible varieties on heavily infested blocks. Biological-control options including the pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana are under evaluation at DCR Puttur for integration into the schedule.

What role do DCCD and CEPCI play in cashew development and export?

The Directorate of Cashewnut and Cocoa Development (DCCD), headquartered in Kochi, is the subordinate office of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare that runs the cashew development programme on the ground: area expansion with DCR-notified high-yielding grafts, replanting of senile and low-yielding orchards (many Konkan orchards planted in the 1960s and 1970s are now in replanting cycle), nursery accreditation to ensure quality planting material supply, demonstration plots, farmer training, and official cashew statistics compilation; the area-expansion and replanting components are implemented under MIDH / NHM with DCCD as the technical anchor. The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI), also headquartered in Kollam (which is India's cashew-processing capital), is the apex trade body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry: it registers cashew exporters and processors, operates the CEPCI Laboratory and Technical Division for export quality certification (W-180, W-210, W-240, W-320, W-450 grading and food-safety testing), coordinates participation in international cashew conferences, publishes monthly export statistics on cashewindia.org, and interfaces with APEDA for the Agri Exchange cashew-exports feed. Together DCCD and CEPCI link the farm-level crop and the ~US$ 400 – 600 million annual Indian cashew kernel export business.

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