<p>Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Thursday that the skill of Kerala-based cashew workers in the processing industry was the State’s trump card in competing with other cashew producing regions and countries.</p> <p>He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating a two-day international cashew buyer-seller meet organised by the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI).</p> <p>Mr. Chandy, at the same time, said the industry had of late begun to face a shortage of skilled labour. Hence, it should look forward to mechanisation to overcome international competition. The Twelfth Five-Year Plan envisaged major assistance to modernisation programme of the cashew industry and the processing sector should take advantage of it, he said.</p> <p>Mr. Chandy said the Kerala government was taking keen interest in the development of the cashew industry. Kerala was the only State that had cashew factories in the public sector. The State was also a major producer of raw cashew. However, due to scarcity of land, production had come down. Mr. Chandy called upon farmers to cultivate high-yielding cashew varieties on available land. The government was taking special efforts to increase raw cashew production. The State also has an exclusive agency for it, he said.</p> <p>Mr. Chandy expressed concern at the import of cashew kernels on the sly from other cashew producing countries. He said it posed a grave threat to the domestic industry. Being the major cashew processing State of the country, the Kerala government had taken up the issue with the Centre and expected quick action, he said. Director General of Foreign Trade Anoop K. Pujari spoke. CEPCI chairman Harikrishnan Nair presided over the function.</p> <p> </p>