<p>Farmers in north coastal Andhra Pradesh fear that cashew procurement rates could plummet further next year as cheaper imports from Africa continue to be dumped in the region. Procurement rates in north coastal AP, which is one of the main cashew-growing areas in the state, has come crashing down to Rs 7,200 per bag if raw cashew with kernel, or roughly Rs 87 per kg, as against Rs 135 per kg in 2017. </p><p>Talking about the sudden fall in prices, M Srinivas, president of the Cashew Manufacturers Association of Palasa (the main cashew industry hub in the state), said, “The reason for the sudden fall is because of the cheap imports from Africa. The African variety costs 850 dollars a tonne, which translates into Rs 61 per kg. In such a scenario, the Indian farmers are still getting a better price.”</p> Explaining the reason behind high demand and high procurement price of local cashew in recent years, Srinivas said, “Earlier there were restrictions on imports and we had to procure at a high price from domestic farmers to boost our exports. Now that the imports are coming in, the domestic procurement price in the local markets has witnessed a steep fall.” Some farmer-traders from Narsipatnam, the main orchard zone in Visakhapatnam district, however, fear that the fall in procurement price will continue. <br><p></p>