<p></p><p>An expert on cashew cultivation has stressed the need to focus on ultra-high density cashew farming to increase production in the country. Speaking at the ‘cashew field day’, organised by the Agriculture and Horticulture Research Station at Ullal in Mangalore taluk on Saturday, Gangadhar Nayak, Principal Scientist (Horticulture), Directorate of Cashew Research at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, said that though the demand for cashew in the country is around 15 lakh tons a year, the country produces around 7 lakh tons.</p> <p>Stating that some cashew-producing nations have started processing industries, he said it would lead to further demand for cashew processing units in India. </p><p>Considering this, there is a need for intensive cashew cropping pattern in the country. Highlighting the method of ultra-high density cashew farming, he said around 450 plants can be grown in an acre of land. According to Nayak, in ultra-high density farming, they can plant many trees in an acre compared to the traditional system. in traditional system, farmers plant trees in 8 metres x 8 metres distance. This will help plant around 80 trees an acre.<br></p><p></p>